Prospective evaluation of malignant neoplasms in cardiac transplant recipients uniformly treated with prophylactic antilymphocyte globulin.

Although there is convincing evidence that prophylactic administration of high doses of the monoclonal antibody OKT3 predisposes patients to an increased prevalence of early posttransplantation malignancy, particularly posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disease, it is indeterminate whether polyclonal antilymphocyte globulin poses a similar hazard. We reviewed the outcome of 112 consecutive cardiac transplant recipients who received uniform immunosuppression, including induction therapy with antilymphocyte globulin, and were prospectively followed-up for a median duration of 41.5 months (range 1 to 81 months). No patients had posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disease. Nine malignant neoplasms (8%) were detected from 6 to 70 months after transplantation. Four patients with cutaneous neoplasms were alive and well at the time this article was written. Three patients died of disseminated adenocarcinoma 6 months, 17 months, and 60 months after transplantation. One patient was undergoing treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma at the time this article was written, and another was undergoing treatment of transitional bladder cell carcinoma. Actuarial survival for all patients was 88% at 1 year and 79% at 5 years. Moderate doses of induction antilymphocyte globulin may facilitate rapid reduction of maintenance cyclosporine and steroid doses, thereby decreasing the duration of intense immunosuppression and lowering the risk of posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disease. Testing this hypothesis would require the development of reliable and reproducible in vivo assays to prospectively assess immune status.