ALEX BORİN, PAOLA VİOLİ, ALBİNO ECCHER, GİANLUİGİ ZAZA, AMEDEO CARRARO
Experimental and Clinical Transplantation - 2022;20(2):122-129
Our aim was to perform a comprehensive literature review on the pathogenesis of squamous anal cancer in patients after solid-organ transplant. Medical databases were consulted until June 1, 2020, for potentially relevant publications. All studies on pathogenesis of de novo anal squamous cell carcinoma in solid-organ transplant recipients were included. Two researchers independently performed study selection, quality assessment, and data extraction and analysis. Twentyone studies were included. None of the selected papers had been solely focused on carcinogenesis. Most of the studies identified human papillomavirus infection and immunosuppression to be significantly correlated with the development of de novo anal cancer in adult solidorgan transplant recipients. CD4+ T-cell depletion and inactivation of tumor suppressor pathways were mainly implicated. All solid-organ transplant recipients, especially those who were human papillomavirus positive, were shown to be at increased risk for the development of posttransplant anal cancer. Further studies are needed to determine the specific mechanisms of pathogenesis according to different solid-organ transplant populations.
