EPidemiology of Cancer after solid Organ Transplantation – EPCOT study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
EPidemiology of Cancer after solid Organ Transplantation using a health-informatics based approach - the EPCOT study
IRAS ID
183974
Contact name
Adnan Sharif
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Cancer remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality post solid organ transplantation. While mortality from the other leading causes of death post-transplantation (e.g. cardiovascular disease and infection) is declining, mortality from cancer post-transplantation is increasing (1). This is due to both general and transplant-specific risk factors that combine to increase risk for cancer compared to the general population. However, there is a shortage of research exploring cancer epidemiology post solid organ transplantation in the UK. This is essential to guide clinicians and for counseling patients regarding expectations and outcomes after developing cancer post-transplantation. This is especially important as the aetiology, pathophysiology and outcomes of cancer post-transplantation may differ from the general population.
Available data registries in the UK separately contain valuable cancer and transplant-specific data that can be combined to explore cancer epidemiology post-transplantation more comprehensively, which can be directly translated into patient benefit by utilizing transplant-specific data (rather than translating from general population or non-UK patient demographics). The purpose of this project is to combine existing data resources to link up the complete patient journey for solid organ transplant recipients and focus on the entire spectrum of cancer from incidence to mortality. In addition, we can use this linked dataset to explore many non-cancer related complications after solid organ transplantation. This will help us better understand the complete burden of disease after transplantation (which may be competing risks for development of cancer) and help improve delivery of effective post-transplant care for UK solid organ transplant patients.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/YH/0320
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion