Infection and Cancer Screening in Living Donor Candidates

Living kidney donation has the potential to greatly improve the health and longevity of patients with kidney disease. However, it is crucial to carefully evaluate living donor candidates to minimize the risk of inadvertent harm to the recipient by transmission of infectious diseases or malignancy, as well as to support the donor’s own health and well-being. In this chapter we outline the essential infectious disease screening for living donor candidates, with attention to geographic considerations and optimal screening modalities. We also discuss the assessment of malignancy in living donor candidates with specific discussion of transmission risks from donors with a cancer history.