Posted: Monday, October 28, 2024
Mackenzie R. Wehner, MD, MPhil, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues used the Skin and UV Neoplasia Transplant Risk Assessment Calculator (also known as SUNTRAC) to evaluate whether patients met with their dermatologists in the appropriate timeframes after receiving a solid organ transplant. They established a baseline of how frequently recipients of solid organ transplant adhered to SUNTRAC guidelines. Their results were published in JAMA Dermatology.
“Increased solid organ transplant recipient dermatology visits were reported when transplant centers scheduled recipients’ dermatology appointments vs merely recommending them,” the authors mentioned. “Enhanced multidisciplinary collaboration in patients who have never seen a dermatologist or been diagnosed with skin cancer may promote timely dermatology referrals for solid organ transplant recipients, especially medium- and high-risk patients.”
Following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guideline, the data of 3,177 patients who received a solid organ transplant from 2011 to 2022 were compared with SUNTRAC guidelines using Optum Clinformatics Data Mart. Patients of unknown race and ethnicity were excluded, since these variables are SUNTRAC parameters for risk-group characterization.
Most participants were categorized as very high risk (76.6%). Of note, the rates of dermatologist visits were similar before and after the establishment of SUNTRAC guidelines in 2019 (42.6% vs 42.2%). Adherence to the SUNTRAC guidelines appeared to correlate with prior solid organ transplant dermatology encounters, thoracic solid organ transplant, transplant younger than age 50, female sex, and pretransplant skin cancer. Furthermore, Hispanic race and ethnicity, as well as receipt of a lung transplant, were found to be associated with adherence to the SUNTRAC guidelines. Furthermore, patients who were of Black race and ethnicity were observed to have a decreased likelihood of adhering to the SUNTRAC guidelines and dermatologist visits.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit jamanetwork.com.