SCOPE

Dear Friends,

Organ transplantation was one  of the greatest achievements in medicine in the 20ths century. Transplant recipients live longer, have a good quality of life, and represent therefore a rapidly growing population. These benefits are associated with many challenges in the further course. 

As long-term immunosuppressive therapy is required for the maintenance of the transplanted organ, a significant inhibition of immune defenses leads to frequent skin infections and malignancies, representing an important cause of morbidity and mortality for these patients.

Organ transplant recipients are at a significantly increased risk of multiple cancers, especially  skin cancer. The overall risk for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, the most common skin cancer in transplant patients, is up to more than 100-fold higher than the general population and more than 50% of the patients are affected. These malignancies are often more aggressive compared with the general population and require multidisciplinary care.

Although the follow-up, and especially the immunosuppressive therapy, are maintained by specialized transplant centers, patients increasingly appear in dermatological offices or hospitals. Thus, there is need for an educational network for physicians and health care workers and for guidelines how to care best for this cohort of patients. 

Therefore, the SCOPE network (Skin care in Organ Transplant Patients Europe) was founded in Berlin in 2000 to meet the need for proper dermatological aftercare in these patients and  grew into a pan-European organisation. It is an interdisciplinary network of dermatologists, transplant physicians, patient support groups and basic researchers. Our cooperation is reflected in several multicentre studies, and in a number of frequently cited publications.

Close cooperation at an intercontinental level with our sister organisation, the North-American and Australian ITSCC (International Skin Cancer in Organ Transplant Patients Collaborative Group), represents an integral part of our work. 

The SCOPE network warmly welcomes interested parties and new members.– dermatologists and scientists – from all over Europe working in the field of transplant dermatology, to share their work and best practices! 

Thank you for your interest in transplant dermatology and SCOPE!

Prof. Dr. med. Ulrike Leiter-Stöppke
President European SCOPE Network

Main Objectives of SCOPE

•    Promotion of dermatological oncology and improvement and control of the
quality of dermatological oncology patient care throughout Europe.

•    Establishing an educational network for physicians and health care workers
and for guidelines

•    Development of diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for organ transplant
recipients.

•    Organising training measures and promoting scientific exchange in the field of  Dermatooncology in transplant and immunosuppressed patients such as
those with hematologic malignancies.

•    Conducting clinical and scientific studies on treatment, biomarkers and
epidemiology of skin cancer in immunosuppressed or organ transplant
patients.

•    Organisation of the biennial SCOPE congress, alternating with that of the
ITSCC (US).

•    Promoting cooperation and the exchange of information with related
disciplines and specialist areas.

•   Associated to the EADO