According to the December issue of BJU International, surgeons at the University of Maryland have transplanted 5 kidneys that have been affected by a renal mass, 3 were cancerous. So far, 1 of the recipients has died in an accident, the remaining 4 have survived between 9 and 41 months without develoing cancer.
The head of the team, Dr Michael Phelan, said both patients and the donors were aware of the cancer in the donor kidneys and the risks including recurrence of the cancer. Before the transplanting into the recipients, the surgeons removed all visible traces of the tumours. Such approach is "controversial and considered high risk" said Dr Phelan, but "The current study provides evidence to suggest that kidneys from donors with renal masses offer a minor, yet feasible, solution to the current organ shortage" and "can be transplanted into recipients with limited life-expectancy on haemodialysis after careful removal of the renal masses".
Source : "Living-donor renal transplantation of grafts with incidental renal masses after ex-vivo partial nephrectomy" BJU International, December 2009, Volume 104, Number 11 (f/t via Athens)
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