UK’s first liver transplant for bowel cancer deemed a success

In the UK, the first patient with advanced bowel cancer to receive a liver transplant after the disease spread there said she had been given “a second chance at life”.

Bianca Perea, a 32-year-old trainee solicitor from Wigan, Greater Manchester, carried out the pioneering operation in the summer of 2024.

Her liver transplant was considered a huge success, meaning that after other treatments, including targeted drug therapy, chemotherapy and surgery, Ms Perea no longer has any signs of cancer.

She said: “To go from being told I would only have a short time to live to now being cancer free is the greatest gift. »

Ms Perea was 29 when she first visited her GP after feeling constipated and bloated.

After being transferred to hospital for tests, she received the devastating news in November 2021 that she had stage four bowel cancer, which had spread to all eight segments of her liver.

She said: “I actually didn’t have any really serious symptoms. I had noticed a change in my bowel habits, as well as some bloating and a bit of stomach pain.”

Ms Perea was referred to the local Christie NHS Foundation Trust treatment center in Wigan in early December 2021.

There, she received 37 cycles of a targeted drug called panitumumab as well as chemotherapy for two and a half years.

She had an excellent response to treatment, allowing her to undergo surgery in May 2023 to remove her intestinal tumor.

However, tests showed that she still had tumors in her liver, which could not be removed.

Nevertheless, because his response to chemotherapy had been so good and his bowel cancer appeared to have disappeared, doctors began to consider a liver transplant.

Ms. Perea was added to the transplant list in February 2024.

A match was found and she received her new liver at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

She said: “Four weeks after having the operation I was able to drive and walk the family dogs, it was truly amazing.

“I have been given a second chance in life and I am going to grab it with both hands. I am very grateful to the family who agreed to donate their loved one’s liver.”

She added that it was “a blessing” that her donor not only helped her, but was also a part of her medical history.

She said she was looking forward to going on vacation this year and was working on improving her fitness.

“My liver is doing great,” she said.

“I’m getting tested on it, and I just had my second scan and everything is clear, so that’s really good.”

Dr Kalena Marti, who was Ms Perea’s oncologist at the Christie, said: “To see that Bianca had such a positive outcome is wonderful.

“When we looked at the tumor cells in his liver after it was removed, they were not active.

“This is great news and we hope it means the cancer will not come back.”

She added that although liver transplants “won’t be an option for everyone”, the success of Ms Perea’s treatment offered “more hope” to others.

Dr Marti added: “Advanced bowel cancer is complex and there are many different types of disease, so what works for one person may not work for another.

“As a result, it is important that we continue to develop new treatments.”

Dr Ian Rowe, Honorary Consultant Hepatologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I am delighted that Bianca has responded so well to treatment and is now cancer free.

“We are of course indebted to the organ donor’s family – as Bianca’s case clearly shows, organ donation saves lives.”

However, he also issued a warning.

“I think hope is important, but the reality is that this will be a treatment for a small proportion of people.

“For these people, it will be the right thing, and we think it will work well.

“The number of people who have been transplanted in this way is still very low internationally, so we are all still learning what these rules should be.

“Over time, they will change and we will know which patients will do better so we can better select them.”

A spokesperson for NHS Blood and Transplant said: “The waiting list for an organ transplant is the highest it has been in a decade. »

He said organ donation “saves lives” and called the donors and their families “truly inspiring.”

He said he hoped “the story of Bianca’s life-changing donation will inspire people to confirm their decision to donate organs on the NHS organ donor register – it means your family will be sure that you want to be an organ donor.

British Liver Trust chief executive Pamela Healy said: “This pioneering liver transplant offers new hope to people living with advanced bowel cancer.

“Transplantation is only possible through the selflessness of organ donors and their families. Tragically, hundreds of people in the UK die each year while waiting for a liver transplant due to a lack of available organs .

“We invite everyone to confirm their wish to become an organ donor and to discuss it with their loved ones.”