EXCESSIVE NUMBERS OF SKIN CANCERS AND PREMALIGNANT SKIN-LESIONS IN ANAUSTRALIAN HEART-TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT

One and a half years after heart transplantation an Australian man dev eloped his first skin cancer. In the period until his death, 7 years a fter the transplantation, 34 histologically confirmed squamous cell ca rcinomas developed, 17 intra-epidermal carcinomas, and 9 basal cell ca rcinomas. Most skin cancers were confined to chronically sun exposed s ites. Exposure to sunlight and human papillomavirus are important fact ors in the development of skin cancer in renal transplant recipients, and further studies are needed to establish the role of these risk fac tors in cardiac transplant recipients.