could a brother donate a portion of his lung and liver to save his sister
keys2z
Posts: 3
Joined: Mar 2013
Mar 11, 2013 - 7:43 pm
My sister was recently diagnosed with small cell lung cancer that spread to the liver with numerous spots on the liver. Has anyone ever heard to a doctor that would perform a partial lung and liver transplant if we were a match?
... but I suspect her having SCLC would rule her out as a recipient, even if the operations were theoretically possible. And any transplant is going to involve immunosuppressive drugs, which would no doubt let the cancer run wild, even if she were theoretically a candidate (which again, I doubt).
She is really lucky to have you as family. I have to agree with Ex-r, the immunosuppressive drugs would rule out the surgery to begin with. When a patient has mets, most surgical interventions are ruled out because it is assumed that there are other cancerous cells circulating.
Joined: Mar 2011
I applaud you for a very generous thought, ...
... but I suspect her having SCLC would rule her out as a recipient, even if the operations were theoretically possible. And any transplant is going to involve immunosuppressive drugs, which would no doubt let the cancer run wild, even if she were theoretically a candidate (which again, I doubt).
(The above is a semi-educated guess.)
Joined: Mar 2013
Thank you for the
Thank you for the information.
Joined: Mar 2011
Agree with the assessment.
She is really lucky to have you as family. I have to agree with Ex-r, the immunosuppressive drugs would rule out the surgery to begin with. When a patient has mets, most surgical interventions are ruled out because it is assumed that there are other cancerous cells circulating.