prograf and skin cancer

has anyone else gotten skin cancer from their anti rejection medication?i remember sitting in my hepatologist office waiting for him to come in and reading the poster on the wall.i never paid much attention to it the warning and phone no to call if it happened.my dr told me as part of my routine checkups every year would be to the dermatologist.well after 3yrs of being on prograf and going to my yearly checkup to dr melski the skin dr.there ya have it i had skin cancer never wouldve seen it had i not gone to him it was under my side burn.what woman looks at her side burns?fortunatley he was able to remove it right there and it came back begnine.so now i go every year without complaing about having to see another dr.tomorrow i go again and am hoping for the best.im 5yrs out now and my prograf dose has been lowered to 1 mg daily.so hopefully that will lower my risk for any more skin cancer.who wouldve ever thought a side effect from prograf would be skin cancer

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by BOBBI on August 2, 2012 at 11:42pm

i need to make a retraction on my statement on it being bengine i meant to say it wasnt malanoma it was certainly a skin cancer but not the major skin cancer malnoma.thank goodness.but nevertheless its to be takenseriously/so people get yourselves checked.just one more thing to be aware of after transplant

Permalink Reply by BOBBI on August 3, 2012 at 4:22pm

well i made the hour and ahalf trek to the skin dr this morning.glad i did it i had skin cancer right on my left cheek of my face.i wouldve never known.they pointed out the brown. flaky spot to me.i always assumed skin cancer would be a mole of some sort.so .now i look like i was burned in the face with a cigar.they removed it right then and there which i was happy about.i would rather have this burn on my face then the skin cancerso thank the lord another hurdle has been jumped .and i can go on for awhile without worry at least 6 months thats how often it needs to be checked.so amen

Permalink Reply by Mark on August 3, 2012 at 5:47pm

That's good news Bobbi :)

Permalink Reply by Michelle Nichols on November 12, 2012 at 9:10pm

Thats great! yes i have to find a dermatologist myself!its been almost a year till my transplant

Permalink Reply by Suzanne on August 2, 2012 at 11:48pm

I am 5 yrs out from my liver transplant. I just had my yearly body check from my dermatologist. She told me that she has some prograf patients that come in weekly to have skin cancers removed (like 6 to 8 a month). I've been lucky so far, but we just have to be really careful and remember the importance of sunscreen.

Permalink Reply by Ms. Jones on August 3, 2012 at 12:05am

Yikes! I have yet to see a dermatologist (going on 9 years since transplant); thanks for the post and reminder. Does the dosage matter? (I take 3 mg of Prograf a day). Thank you in advance.

Permalink Reply by Suzanne on August 3, 2012 at 12:15am

She didn't mention dosage. I was so shocked that I didn't think to ask!

Permalink Reply by livecam on August 3, 2012 at 12:20am

I've had a few removed over the years. We are at increased risk for developing many cancers but skin cancer is the most common.

Permalink Reply by Karen Lindemann Ehret on August 3, 2012 at 3:51am

I had a double lung transplant 3 years ago. I take about 6 mg of Prograf a day and about a year ago I noticed a sore on my lower lip that would come and go. I went to my Dermatologist earlier this year and discovered it was cancer. After an unsuccessful biopsy to remove it, it was treated 3 times a week for 6 weeks with topical Imiquimod. It did go away, thankfully. We have to remember that skin cancer risk goes up 4 to 30 times post transplant. While we do need some sun every day for the vitamin D we should be wearing the proper sunscreen all over our body. Don't forget tops of feet if wearing sandals and ears, back of neck and sometimes scalp if hair is thin. Hats are great! Let's keep ourselves as healthy as we can!!

Permalink Reply by Claire on August 3, 2012 at 5:34am

Hi, I'm on 4mg of Prograf and have been for 13 years after a kidney & pancreas txplant. I noticed my 1st BCC about 8 years ago in my hairline so had it removed. I then had another on my upper lip that came back 3 times until a plastic surgeon took a larger patch of skin away so now hopefully it won't return. I've also had one on my upper chest and am about to have 1 removed from my shoulder. I have red hair, blue eyes, freckles and can remember being sun burnt as a child so I am high up on the at risk list as it is. Mine have all been BCCs so not malignant. I am aware of them as they tend to present as small patches of skin that won't heal. We don't have regular dermatology visits as routine here in the UK, I wish we did though. I have to insist that they are removed usually if I see a new Dr at the skin clinic as they once did a punch biopsy and I was told all was ok, but the patch never went so I went back and the hospital told me that the biopsy showed traces of BCC. I was obviously annoyed and had it removed at another hospital. You really need to be aware of your own body when you have a long term condition and insist on things when you know that something's not right.

Permalink Reply by Jefe on August 3, 2012 at 11:40pm

I'm 28 months post-liver transplant. I take 2 mg of prograf daily. Just this week I found out from the dermatologist that I have "squamous cell carcinoma" which is a type of skin cancer. She is going to do "Mohs" procedure next Wednesday. I don't know diddly about any of this and I'm extremely anxious about having more surgery. Can anyone out there provide any insights? Thanks for being there.

Permalink Reply by BOBBI on August 4, 2012 at 8:33am

jeffe squamous cell carcinoma is exactly what i have.the first time i got it they numbed the area an scraped and cut it out.this time they burned it off.dont be too anxious its not as serious as malnoma but serious enough not to be ignored.just follow drs orders i go ever six months for checkups.best of luck to you and let me know how it goes.