AMSTERDAM — In an extremely rare case, four patients developed cancer after receiving organs from the same donor, with three succumbing to the disease. <br /> <br />When doctors harvested the kidneys, lungs, heart, and liver of a 53-year-old organ donor, she had no known medical conditions, and no malignancy was detected, according to a case report published in the American Journal of Transplantation. <br /> <br />Breast cancer cells were later found in the lung, left kidney, and liver recipients, with DNA analysis showing they came from the donor. The tree died after the cancer metastasized. <br /> <br />A fourth organ recipient survived following removal of the donated right kidney, stopping immunosuppression drugs, and chemotherapy. <br /> <br />The study suggests the donor has micro-metastases, which are groups of cancer cells that spread from their site of origin, but are too small to be detected. <br /> <br />Organ donations are not allowed for anyone with an active malignancy, as cancer transmission can occur during transplantation. <br /> <br />This rare medical occurrence, however, is believed to be the first case of breast cancer being transferred.
