Organ transplant recipients are at an increased risk of developing
malignancies due to prolonged immunosuppression. However, the rate and
clinical course of
neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) following
organ transplantation has not been assessed so far. We have retrospectively analyzed patients undergoing
organ transplantation between 1985 and 2001 in order to assess the frequency and
clinical course of NETs in organ transplant recipients. 3,190 organ transplant recipients with sufficient clinical data were identified (2,521 kidney and 669 heart transplants). In total, 161/3,190 patients (5%) developed
malignancies, with 6 of them being classified as NETs (0.18%). Interestingly, all 6 patients were diagnosed with undifferentiated
neuroendocrine carcinomas, while no indolent NETs were seen. Four of these patients had undergone renal, 1 patient heart and 1 patient both heart and
renal transplantation. All 6 patients were given
chemotherapy, but none of them responded, as all patients showed
disease progression after a median of 3 cycles of
chemotherapy (range 1-4) with the median survival being 4.8 months (range 2-11). The occurrence of NETs/undifferentiated
neuroendocrine carcinomas following
organ transplantation appears to be rare, with an incidence comparable with the normal population. Our data suggest a highly aggressive course with a dismal prognosis and unresponsiveness to
chemotherapy.