Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder and other Malignancies after Liver Transplantation

Malignancy is a common cause of morbidity and mortality after liver transplantation. Liver transplant recipients have a number of unique risk factors that predispose them to cancer development. Several of these risk factors exist prior to the transplant itself, making it important for transplant physicians to be aware of these and to minimize the potential incremental risk after a transplant. After liver transplantation, patients should be counselled to reduce modifiable risk factors such as sun exposure, smoking, and alcohol intake. Strategies to minimize immunosuppression should also be considered. Once diagnosed with a malignancy after liver transplantation, the prognosis appears to be worse than for those diagnosed with the same malignancy in the general population. Transplant patients should be screened to prevent malignancy or malignancies should be diagnosed at the earliest possible stage.