17 hours Ago By Ashima Sharda Mahindra
In a never-heard-before incident, an organ transplant recipient died of cancer after contracting the illness from his organ donor, The Sun reported. The 69-year-old unnamed patient from Arizona in the United States underwent an organ transplant to treat his liver cancer before contracting its more aggressive form and dying months later. In medical literature, there have been rare and sporadic documented cases of transplanted cancer.
However, in this particular case, it took just six months for the successful transplant to turn into this bizarre tragedy, with doctors believing the disease originated from the donor. In the case report, doctors wrote: "To our knowledge, this is the only case in literature describing donor‐derived lung cancer in a liver graft without known malignancy in the donor." Based on the lab results, doctors said they were able to determine the tumours that killed him were confined solely to his new liver.
The patient was undergoing treatment for alcohol cirrhosis According to the doctors treating the recipient, the patient had alcohol-related cirrhosis—a liver disease that leads to scarring of the organ due to excessive drinking. Doctors said they did not detect cancer anywhere else in his body. The procedure, which took place at The Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, revealed two solid masses in his liver four months later.
At the time, doctors had ruled unexpected developments as "indeterminate." But then, within two months, three new masses were revealed, and an aggressive form of metastatic lung cancer was diagnosed. "The.
.. features of the tumour were distinctly different from those of the prior CC.
These findings were suspicious for donor-transmitted malignancy. A polymerase chain reaction‐based assay [PCR test] strongly suggested that the newly diagnosed metastatic carcinoma in the liver originated from the donor," the report from doctors read. According to the report, the organ donor, who died in 2019, had an undiagnosed advanced lung cancer that had spread to his liver.
The donor, who was 50 years old at that time, did not have any history of lung tumours or cancer. It is not believed that pre-donation testing by doctors uncovered anything to cause concern. The patient did not receive another transplant Doctors said because his cancer had spread, the patient was not eligible to receive another liver transplant or anti-rejection medications but was put on chemotherapy treatment.
Even though his treatment had worked at that time and stabilized for a while, a subsequent scan revealed it had progressed beyond treatment. A case like this has only ever been reported one other time. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Health and around the world.
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