4 get cancer from teen's donated organs

Associated Press ^ | 4-7-08 | FRANK ELTMAN

[aculeus]

Could some cancers be contagious?

Some are known to be transferred from one animal to another. Two I've read about are a certain venereal cancer in dogs and a mouth cancer in Tasmanian Wolves which can be transferred through contact. It's not "contagious" the way the flu is contagious. The cells of the cancerous animal find a home in the recipient animal and continue to multiply. I think such transfers are extremely rare in humans.

For your reading pleasure, courtesy of Google Scholar:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/307/5712/1035

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=3887857&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google

[Marysecretary]

Yeah, tell me about it. I’m on a transplant list for a kidney. Yikes.

[Pharmboy]

Wow...that’s weird. And it’s from yesterday.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

What is cancer? Is it caused by a germ, or a virus or a fungus? What is it?

[imintrouble]

Thank you - I forgot the recipients are receiving infection fighting agents.

The state of organ transplant needs updating in that they wait until a patient is at death’s door before they can become a candidate.

A donation stands a better chance of success if they do the donation as soon as it is decided that would be the only
option for life saving left.

As it is if recipients die from wasting away, the organ is wasted anyway.

[Pharmboy]

Cancer is a condition where the cells lose their normal system of checks on their own growth. It can be caused by any number of things that affect the genetic makeup of the cell: viruses, chemicals ("carcinogens"), sunlight, radiation and others. The final common pathway is a cell that is out of control and lives forever.

The immune rsponse to cancer cells in the body is complex, and not just a case of our immune systems getting rid of the cancer cells when they arise; for example, people with immune disorders/deficiencies do not necessarily get more cancers than normals.