Japan team conditionally OKs transplants of “restoredˮ kidneys

October 20, 2017

TOKYO- An expert team under Japan's health ministry has conditionally approved transplants of "restored" kidneys from cancer patients to renal disease patients planned by major medical group Tokushukai.

For such transplants, Tokushukai will be required to have outsiders, including from the Japanese Urological Association, involved in donor selections and to report each case to the team.

The team examines advanced medical treatment techniques to see whether they should be covered by the country's public health insurance program.

The decision, made at a meeting Thursday, will be finalized following discussions at a different ministry panel on advanced medical care.

Tokushukai plans to harvest kidneys with relatively small cancer up to 7 centimeters in size from cancer patients if they consent, remove the cancer from the isolated organs and transplant them to renal failure sufferers.

The group aims to handle 42 cases over a planned nine-year clinical study period. It will check whether functions of transplanted kidneys remain normal five years after the operations and whether any new cancer has developed in the organs. Jiji Press