I would like to know how a procurment team can and did miss a cancerous kidney for transplantation?

This happened to me in 1989. As you wold guess the kidney was removed. Is this going to happen again to someone?I sure hope not. If anyone works in the transplant field knows anything on this subject I would love to hear from you.

I may not be "in the transplant field" but I do know this--transplant availability is not very good, and used to be worse. I also know that the medical team has a few short minutes to check out some donors before the window of opportunity closes. I also know that there is not an awful lot of testing that can be done, particularly for "accidental" sources of donor organs in the short time before they deteriorate to unusability. I also know that some organs LOOK healthy and yet one will not really know until later.

How do you know that YOUR body didn't make the cancer grow. The donor may not have had symptoms because his or her body was keeping the cancer switch off but your hormones flipped the switch on? In each of our DNA there are genes that await some chemical to switch on an enzyme sequence that could do anything from balding to plaque build-up for a stroke to any of thousands of cancers. The body usually deactivates those switches--what if your body turned one on? You could be blaming someone else for something you did, and had no knowledge or control over.

Think of it as buying a used car. The organ may simply be available. The organ may be available but defective. But usually, which is why there are long waiting lists, the organ may simply not be a fit for your body. Now you know the fit involves more than a blood test for anti-rejection compatibility. Sorry.

Added: See the news story below of a body tissue provider that was closed for selling garbage parts. I guess there are some who don't honor the serious nature of their work as well as they should.

I dont think this could happen now as screening is so tight nowadays

Poor pathology or no pathology back then.

Now the requirements are tighter, but I would imagine that they check donor and recipient to ensure that no cancers exist.