Allograft recipients are particularly prone to developing lymphomas, usually a cancer of a B cell . They do so at a rate some 350 times higher than the occurrence of these tumors in the general population. The chief culprit seems to be the immunosuppression that these patients have been receiving. Although organ transplants have helped thousands of people, much remains to be done. Both these problems may be helped by xenotransplantation .
Xenotransplantation is the use of organs from other animals.
A number of attempts have been made to use hearts, livers, and kidneys from such primates as chimpanzees and baboons - so far with limited success. One reason is that xenotransplants usually are attacked immediately by antibodies of the host resulting in hyperacute rejection . But perhaps the use of pigs as organ donors will be feasible. Their organs are about the right size for use in humans. They can be produced in the numbers needed.