Abstract

Background

Kidney transplantation in Sudan is funded by the government. Cytomegalovirus prophylaxis is provided for patients who receive biological induction or have recipient-negative donor-positive cytomegalovirus serology. Doctor Selma Center for Kidney Diseases joined the national kidney transplant program in May 2019. Since then, we observed the frequent occurrence of cancer in patients who received modest immunosuppression without viral prophylaxis.

Methods

We retrospectively divided kidney transplant recipients between 2019 and 2021 into two groups according to cytomegalovirus prophylaxis and compared tumor occurrence rates.

Results

The first group included 77 patients who did not receive biological induction or cytomegalovirus prophylaxis. The second group included 92 patients who received valganciclovir for 3–6 months. There was no other antiviral treatment except entecavir for chronic hepatitis B virus infection in eight patients. Five patients in the first group developed malignancy. The first patient presented eight months post-transplant with Kaposi sarcoma of the stomach and responded to treatment with sirolimus. The second patient presented nine months post-transplant with cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma and also responded to sirolimus. Two patients presented two and four months post-transplant with aggressive non-cutaneous Kaposi sarcoma that involved the gastrointestinal tract and lymphatic system and died soon afterwards. The fifth patient presented three years post-transplant with non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the duodenum and is currently receiving chemotherapy. Malignancy rate (6.5% vs 0.0%, P = 0.02) and Kaposi sarcoma rate (5.2% vs 0.0%, P = 0.04) were significantly higher in the first group.

Conclusion

In Sudan, omitting valganciclovir prophylaxis after kidney transplantation was associated with a high rate of virus-induced malignancy.

Graphical abstract