The paradox of poor cervical cancer screening uptake for kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

Kidney transplant recipients have an increased risk for developing and dying from cervical cancer compared with the general population due to their immunosuppressed state. As one of the cancers most amenable to an effective screening program, encouraging eligible women after transplantation to adhere to screening is critically important. Therefore, the observation that kidney transplant recipients may have a lower uptake of cervical cancer screening compared with the general population is concerning. The reasons for this should be studied so that any barriers can be identified and overcome. Kidney transplant recipients and recipients of other solid organ allografts must be encouraged and supported to adhere to recommended screening programs to mitigate the morbidity and mortality of posttransplantation cancer. See related article by Hsu et al., p. 1678.