Blood donation

Some people who have had cancer are not allowed to donate blood. This is done partly to protect the donor, but it may also add an extra margin of safety for the person who receives the blood.

While cancer has very rarely been transmitted through transplants of solid organs such as kidneys, cancer due to blood transfusion has not been reported in the medical literature. This would suggest that the chance of getting cancer from a blood transfusion is extremely small. Even if cancer cells were present in donated blood, the immune system of the person getting the blood would destroy the cells. A possible exception might be in transfusion recipients with weakened immune systems, who might not be able to fend off the cancer cells. Because of this slight possibility, in certain cases cancer survivors may not be allowed to donate blood for other people.

Different blood collection centers may have slightly different standards for allowing cancer survivors to donate. For example, the American Red Cross guidelines allow people who have had cancer to donate if the cancer was treated with surgery or radiation at least 5 years ago and there has been no recurrence. Potential donors who have had only low-risk skin cancers that were removed or destroyed (and therefore have little risk of cancerous cells entering the bloodstream) may not have to wait that long. People who were treated for cancer with chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or immunotherapy cannot donate blood. Nor can anyone who has had leukemia or lymphoma.

Other blood donation centers may require shorter times since cancer treatment was completed, or be different in other ways. Ultimately, it's up to the doctor in charge of the donor center to decide whether a person is allowed to donate. If you have questions about whether you can donate, please contact the blood collecting center in your community.

Some cancer survivors may find these precautions frustrating. They may be eager to donate blood to help others with cancer, just as they were helped by transfusions during their treatment. Everyone should remember, though, that the most important goal in blood banking is to ensure the safety of the blood supply and to protect transfusion recipients.

Organ donation

Many cancer survivors also wish to help people by becoming organ donors. There is always a pressing need for organ donation. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the organization that facilitates every organ transplant in the United States, more than 97,000 people are waiting for organs. Some organ donations, such as kidney donation, may be done when a person is still living, while others are possible only if a person wishing to donate passes away under certain circumstances.

The risk of passing on cancer to an organ recipient is very small, but there have been some rare reports in the medical literature of this happening. The risk may be higher for organ transplants than blood transfusions because organ recipients are given drugs to suppress their immune systems to help prevent rejection of the transplant.

According to a study by UNOS, reported in the journal Transplantation, under select circumstances there may be an acceptable risk in using organs from donors who have had certain types of cancer. This is particularly true if there is a long cancer-free interval before the organ donation. At present, UNOS does not recommend accepting organs from people with "actively spreading cancer (except for primary brain tumors that have not spread beyond the brain stem)." Acceptance of organs for donation is up to the individual organ procurement agency and the recipient. If you have questions about whether you may be able to donate your organs, please contact UNOS (see the "Additional resources" section) or the organ procurement center in your community.

For many people, corneal donation is another way to offer help to others after they pass away. Almost all people with cancer (except those with certain blood or eye cancers) can donate their corneas. Corneal donation does not delay the funeral and the body is not disfigured.

Revised: 03/08/2008