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Possible risk of cancer
transmission from blood donors to recipients through blood
transfusion Can cancer cells from donors with a yet undetected cancer be transferred to the transfusion recipient and then develop into a clinical cancer? Case reports of transmission of cancer by needle-stick injury or surgical instruments, and the emerging awareness that viable lineages of donor cells may survive long term and proliferate in the recipient (michrochimerism), make this question relevant. Although individuals with a history of cancer are normally deferred as donors, transfusion with blood from donors with an undiagnosed incipient cancer is not uncommon. Our investigation provides no evidence that blood transfusions from precancerous blood donors are associated with increased risk of cancer among the recipients. The results indicate that there is no need for considering screening for malignant disease among blood donors. This removes yet another uncertainty regarding possible long-term risks after blood transfusions
Bibliographic reference:
Olof Nyrén Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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