Genetic Analysis of a Sarcoma Accidentally Transplanted from a Patient to a Surgeon

Abstract

Modern concepts of cancer immunology originated from the classic observations by Jensen, Loeb, Tyzzer, and Little in the early years of the 20th century of the rejection of transplanted allogeneic tumors and the acceptance of syngeneic tumors.1 Despite this law of transplantation, there are several clinical examples of the accidental transplantation of a malignant tumor or tumor cells into a healthy recipient.2–5 We describe the accidental transplantation of a malignant sarcoma from a patient to a surgeon. Using molecular methods, we showed that the sarcomas in the unrelated patient and surgeon were genetically identical. Case Report A 32-year-old man . . .