Since the first report of successful clinical lung transplantation in 1983, the volume of lung transplants has progressively increased worldwide with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease still accounting for the majority of transplants performed. Compared to the general population, transplant recipients continue to have an increased incidence of cancer — malignancies develop in approximately 16% of lung transplant recipients within 5 years after transplantation, and in 32% within 10 years.1 The most common malignancies after lung transplantation are lymphoproliferative and skin cancers.
Lung cancer following lung transplant is uncommon, with a reported incidence of 0.46% to 6.9%;2 however, the rate is higher than in the nontransplant population. Lung cancer may arise in the native lung of the single-lung transplant recipient, the donor lung after transplantation, the explanted lung of the recipient, or the donor lung diagnosed perioperatively. With the increasing number of lung transplants and their longer survival, a higher incidence of bronchogenic lung cancer can be expected in the future.