Data from Elevated Cutaneous Smad Activation Associates with Enhanced Skin Tumor Susceptibility in Organ Transplant Recipients

The study investigates the role of TGF-β signaling in the increased susceptibility to nonmelanoma skin cancer in organ transplant recipients taking antirejection drugs (ARD). Analyzing over 200 cutaneous lesions from 87 transplant recipients and 184 lesions from non-recipients, the researchers found significantly higher levels of P-Smad2 in both lesional and nonlesional tissues of transplant recipients (P ≤ 0.001). However, P-Smad1/5/8 levels, markers of the BMP signaling pathway, were not generally elevated in ARD patients, except in keratoacanthoma cases (P ≤ 0.005). The findings suggest that elevated TGF-β signaling, indicated by increased P-Smad2, may contribute to the higher cancer risk in these patients.