This was a real case from Germany. A surgeon accidentally cut his left hand with a scalpel while removing a malignant abdominal tumour called a fibrous histiocytoma. Five months later, a new tumour appeared at the site of the surgeon’s injured hand. Molecular testing confirmed the impossible: the surgeon... had developed the same type of tumour as the patient. Histopathological and DNA analyses showed the tumour to be genetically identical to the patient’s original cancer, indicating direct implantation of tumour cells into the wound. The surgeon’s tumour was successfully removed. Two years later, he remained well, with no evidence of recurrence or spread. With sharps injuries, we worry about blood-borne infections. But in exceptionally rare cases, cancer cells can also seed and implant into the wound. 📽️: Zack D Filmsshow more

Based on this published case report 👇

A surgeon's scalpel slipped, leaving a tiny cut. Invisible seeds from a patient's sarcoma found fertile ground, took root, and months later bloomed into the same cancer at the wound. Science confirmed the cells were identical, proving that, in extraordinarily rare moments, cancer can be transplanted by accident. Never say never in medicine.

As far as transmissible (infectious) tumours go, that Life cover is rather more alarming than that singular transmission case, wouldn't you say? And it becomes quite a lot more concerning when you've got Marilyn Monroe sharing the cover....

Life magazine was ahead of its time 😅

A cancer cells doesn’t know or care which body it is in, just survive and divide. The far more documented version happens in organ transplantation - donor-derived cancer transmission, where a kidney or liver harbouring undetected malignant cells is transplanted, and the recipient (on immunosuppressants, unable to reject the foreign cells) develops the donor's cancer. There are dozens of recorded cases, versus this handful from sharps injuries. Same underlying truth in both: cancer isn't really "a disease of an organ," it's a population of rogue cells that will colonise wherever the immune system lets them in. The scalpel case is just the freakiest possible delivery mechanism for something transplant medicine sees far more often. Great case to pull out doc

Wow cancer cells can be contagious?

Foreign cancer cells are usually intercepted and cleared by the immune system - this particular type must have been able to evade the usual defences to implant successfully.

@ahchoen Or the surgeon was immunocompromised at that time by a secondary cause, unbeknownst to him. A healthy immune system generally protects against this scenario.

@drkeithsiau @ahchoen So in theory a nation could weaponize cancer against assassination targets if combined with a immunosuppressant or if factors are intentionally set to cause an individual to be immunocompromised. I wonder if they could make the cancer more resistant to treatment via mutation?

@drkeithsiau @ahchoen “make the cancer more resistant to treatment via mutation” => cancers do this by default unfortunately. It’s why a reoccurrence often doesn’t respond to the same treatment. “Weaponise cancer”? It’s not a drop dead quick disease. It takes some time to grow and kill.

@Aesop_Was_Right @drkeithsiau Perfect assassination. Not suspicious looking

Doesnt this mean that surgically removing a tumor can spread the cancer

And yet biopsies are “standard medical procedure” lol. Current medical system is evil

good news: successfully removed. bad news: the case study will haunt every med student forever 😅

Was the surgeon immunocompromised?

Good thought! Apparently not!

A lot of people are afraid that biopsies spread cancer.. this has been a "myth" in oncology... But this case will cause a lot of fear out there .

Interesting. Tumor seeding….seems plausible that a biopsy may ‘scatter the seeds’

And we laugh when it's said biopsies spread cancer. SMDH.

This proves that biopsies can cause cancer to spread.

And lately this seems to happen to fish in canada and the US, some kind of skin cancer is spreading. See @outbreakupdates latest post(s)

@outbreakupdates Not sure about marine life, but transmissible cancers caused by infection is well known in humans, the most common one being HPV.

Wow 😮 That’s extremely unusual! Perils of being a surgeon.

Tumour seeding is something we are paranoid about, although we tend to see this transmitted across different sites within the same person

Does this prove that cancer can spread by doing biopsy ?

Seeding. Literally obsessed over this while my tumor was still in my body. I was horrified after my biopsy.

I've often wondered if that would be possible, given the mechanisms cancers cells use to avoid immune detection

Blood-borne mentioned

Reminds me of another bizarre medical history fact:

😮

"I would bet that by 2050 we’ll have found that more than 80 percent of all human cancer is caused by infection. In 1975 the number was considered to be zero." Paul W. Ewald, 2009 (biologist, University of Louisville in Kentucky, author of Plague Time : the new germ theory of disease, published in 2000).

So a biopsy done on cancer could potentially spread cancer?

Here’s another head-scratcher Donor clonal hematopoiesis can occasionally progress toward rare malignant disease in the recipient, even while the donor remains clinically well.

Wild case — cancer cells are surprisingly resilient. Solid reminder that sharps safety isn't just about blood-borne viruses. Thanks for sharing!"

@grok can cancer be spread from cat to human

Parasites are contagious - ivermectin kills cancer and parasites. Correlation?

Imagine explaining this to your insurance: ‘I caught my patient’s sarcoma through a paper cut.’ Proof that sharps safety isn’t just about HIV and hep C

ウィルス細菌カビ、寄生虫の類いやな。

This was seen also with the nazi experiments…this is not new!

So if you biopsy a tumor in your body, you can spread the same cancer throughout your body?

This case highlights why meticulous handling of sharps, careful surgical technique, and prompt management of percutaneous injuries are essential—not only to prevent infections but also because, in extremely rare instances, tumour cell implantation can occur.

Yet we biopsy people routinely

Fascinating case, proof that cancer cells can implant directly, but still not contagious like a virus. Accidental tumor transplantation via scalpel is crazyyy