Organ donation is regarded as a great act of love that continues life, but a transplant surgeon in Taiwan recently revealed a rare case in medical history—a donor passed away and donated organs, only for several recipients to be diagnosed with breast cancer years later, including male patients who were not spared.
Transplant surgeon Zhong Mengxuan shared on the program "Doctors are Spicy" that after this case occurred, the medical team conducted further investigation and discovered that the donor already had breast cancer at the time of organ donation, but it had not been detected.
Because the transplant recipients later developed the same type of cancer, the hospital conducted genetic comparison and confirmed that the cancer cells had actually originated from the same organ donor.
Zhong Mengxuan stated that while organ donation can help many patients gain new life, strict screening before donation is essential, including confirming any infectious diseases or malignant tumors, to minimize medical risk after transplantation.
According to medical information, cancer patients are usually not allowed to donate organs or tissues mainly because cancer cells may spread via the circulatory system. However, because the cornea does not receive nutrients through blood supply, the risk of cancer cell transmission is lower, so some cancer patients may still be eligible to donate their corneas.