In 2002, Vincent Liew was just a 37-year-old man from Singapore awaiting a kidney transplant. After five years of three times a week dialysis to counter his diabetes, Liew finally received his transplant in February of that year. The only problem was that the organ came from a donor who had cancer.
How a Man Gets Uterine Cancer
Liew received his kidney from a 50-year-old woman who died of a stroke. It was only after the kidney transplant was completed that an autopsy of the woman’s body found that she had uterine cancer. The cancer was not apparent to any of the doctors who treated her or to the transplant team. In April 2002, Liew’s surgeon told him about the donor’s cancer findings. His doctor reportedly advised him that the best prevention is to remove the organ, but that the risk of uterine cancer spreading to a man or via kidney transplant was nearly nonexistent. Testing was reportedly performed and determined that the kidney was not showing signs of cancer. Liew decided to keep the organ.
By August 2002, Liew suffered from severe back pain and asked to have the kidney removed. Upon removal, his doctors found that the organ had apparent tumors. Three weeks later, Vincent Liew was dead. An autopsy found that the tumors on the kidney originated from female cells, though they were not able to tell that they were exactly uterine in origin. However, many who have reviewed the case have settled on the cancer of the uterus as being the culprit.
Cancer and Transplant Safety
A malpractice suit filed by his widow Kimberly Liew in New York alleged that her late husband died of uterine cancer caused by the kidney transplant. Though the jury found in May 2010 that the hospital and doctors were not at fault, questions remain about what it is known about the risk of transplantation when the donor’s cancer status is unclear. Sadly, two other recipients of the donor’s organs in this case also died from cancer.
It is estimated that approximately one percent of transplants spread illness, with approximately 23 cases of this occurring in 2007, 12 of whom died, out of nearly 28,000 transplant procedures. Though cancer is listed among the diseases observed to be transmitted (usually viral infections), it is not a usual case, and mostly unexpected because of the nature of the disease. How cancer could spread between individuals is unclear. Cancer cells are specific to a tissue, even after metastasis, and specific to an individual because they require cellular damage to occur before a tumor develops. For cancer to develop in a person who has never had the organ of origin (the uterus in this case), is wholly unexpected.
How Organ Transplants Could Change
A very short timeframe is available for testing the viability of a donor and their organs. More than 107,000 people are on the United States transplant waiting list alone, many of whom will die without the transplant. Some conditions and diseases simply cannot be detected. Transplantation aims to save as many people as possible while being as safe as time allows. Until more is known about cancer, no changes will better the safety and effectiveness of organ transplantation.
Sources:
Jennifer Peltz, Man dies of uterine cancer linked to transplant, May 27, 2010 (accessed June 3, 2010).
Tech Jackal, Widow of kidney transplant patient loses case, May 30, 2010 (accessed June 3, 2010).
Alicia Mae Prater - Alicia received her doctorate in Experimental Pathology in 2007. She has been a freelance writer and scientific editor since 2008.
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