UNOS DonateLife

March 27, 2002

Risk of Tumor Transmission Small From Donors With Certain Types of Central Nervous System Cancer

(Richmond, VA) -- Very few organs are procured from donors with central nervous system (CNS) tumors in the United States presumably due to concern about tumor transmission. But, according to a United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) study published in the February 27, 2002 issue of Transplantation, there was no difference in transplant patient survival regardless of whether the donor died of a CNS tumor.

According to UNOS Research Scientist Myron Kauffman, M.D., the paper's lead author, this potential source of organs hasn't been fully explored. "There is a small risk of tumor transmission from CNS donors that cannot be precisely quantified at this time because of a lack of data. That risk needs to be weighed against the likelihood of dying on the waiting list, which we believe is infinitely greater."

The UNOS research team found the risk of tumor transmission from donors with CNS tumors to be small. From the UNOS Transplant Tumor Registry, 397 CNS tumor donors were identified. Only 39 of 1220 recipients who received organ transplants from these CNS donors developed post-transplant malignancies, none of which were donor derived or of CNS origin.

The authors warn that certain types of brain tumors are more likely to spread than others and potential donors that have undergone certain types of neurosurgery should be avoided. However, they assert that donors with a history of CNS tumors or CNS tumor death should be considered potential donors. Each year in the U.S. more than 13,000 CNS tumor deaths occur, but less than 55 cadaveric donors with CNS tumors are recovered.

The study findings are supported by Australian and Czech studies. Of 153 recipients from 46 Australian CNS donors and 91 recipients from 41 Czech CNS donors, there were no CNS tumor transmissions.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a nonprofit charitable organization, maintains the nation's organ transplant waiting list under contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Under that contract and on behalf of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), UNOS brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop organ transplantation policy. UNOS provides the OPTN with a functional, effective management system incorporating the UNOS Board of Directors, committees and regional membership structure to operate OPTN elements and activities.