Donor-associated malignancy in kidney transplant patients.

Skin cancer cells with donor genotype have been identified in allogeneic transplant patients; however, the donor contribution to the recipient's epithelial malignancy remains to be established. In this issue of the JCI, Verneuil et al. provide the first evidence for donor contribution to the malignant epithelium of skin squamous cell carcinoma in a kidney transplant recipient. This case report may have important implications for cancer research and clinical care of long-surviving kidney transplant patients.