Skin Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Skin Cancer, including details on identification, causes, prevention, treatment.

Anti-rejection drug treatment increases basal cell carcinoma burden in Ptch1+/- mice.

Vogt A, Hebert J, Hwang J, Lu Y, Epstein EH

Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94110, USA.

The development of extensive and severe non-melanoma skin cancer is an extremely common complication of organ transplantation and is assumed to be caused by long-term treatment with anti-rejection drugs (ARD). Despite this florid clinical problem, ARD treatments have been reported to affect experimental murine skin carcinogenesis only weakly. We report here that treatment of cesium-137-irradiated Ptch1+/- mice with immunosuppressive doses of cyclosporine A plus prednisolone for 4-1/2 mo increased basal cell carcinoma burden by 2.5-fold. Thus, these mice provide a good model for study of the effects of long-term administration of ARD on at least one type of non-melanoma skin cancer.

Published 18 January 2005 in J Invest Dermatol, 124(1): 263-7.
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