Conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma may be more aggressive in organ transplant recipients
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Patients who underwent an organ transplant and were diagnosed with conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma presented with greater tumor thickness and larger basal diameter compared with patients who did not undergo an organ transplant.
“A comparison of 12 patients with conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) in transplant recipients with 440 patients with cSCC overall revealed those in transplant recipients was associated with younger age, male sex, Caucasian race, diffuse location, larger basal diameter and greater tumor thickness,” Carol L. Shields, MD, told Healio/OSN.
At the virtual Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium, Shields and colleagues presented a poster on a large case series of patients who underwent an organ transplant and had cSCC compared with patients with cSCC at Wills Eye Hospital between July 1974 and April 2020.
The mean duration of immunosuppression in the 12 organ transplant recipients was 7.4 years. The organ transplant cohort presented with a mean tumor thickness of 3.7 mm compared with 2.1 mm in the non-transplant cohort. Additionally, the transplant cohort presented with a mean tumor basal diameter of 9 mm compared with 8 mm in the non-transplant cohort.
Post-transplant tumors showed lymphatic invasion, positive surgical margins, anaplasia, acantholysis and a recurrence rate of 50%. The researchers wrote 50% of tumors were classified as T3 or higher, according to the 7th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer classification of conjunctival carcinoma.
“Beware the cSCC in a patient with previous transplant as their tumor could be large and more aggressive as well as less responsive to immunotherapy,” Shields told Healio/OSN.
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Fromal OV, et al. Conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma in transplant recipients: A comparative analysis of clinical and histopathologic features. Presented at: Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium; Aug. 21-23, 2020 (virtual meeting).
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