Transmission of cancer from organ donors.

One hundred and seventeen of 270 (43%) recipients of organs obtained from donors with malignancies had evidence of transmitted cancers. In 9 instances these were removed from renal allografts immediately prior to transplantation. Including these cases there were 45 recipients of organs in which a neoplasm involved the allograft, 6 others in whom adjacent structures were invaded, and another 66 patients who had distant metastases. Precautions to prevent cancer transmission include meticulous preoperative screening of donors, careful examination of all organs at the time of harvesting, biopsy of any suspicious lesions, and routine donor autopsy, if possible.