Liver Transplant

20130315-210024.jpgThere is a study on liver transplants with some very encouraging 5 year survival figures. The problem is that in Australia at least, this is considered high risk and metastatic cancer (other than primary liver cancer) will not qualify for a liver transplant.

The issues are the immuno suppressant medications, which need to be taken to prevent the organ rejection and the suppressed immune system is believed to help spread the cancer further. Another belief is a fast recurrence of mets in the transplanted liver tissue. The study did not show this however and most recurrences could be treated with additional surgery. The study showed a 5 year OS of 60%, which is impressive, though I would have like to see more participants in the trial.

Options

If you have 100k to spend, then you can get a liver transplant in Singapore. Singapore has an opt out system for organ donation, which means that getting a new liver is not hard. Singapore also allows family or friends to act as liver donors and a part of their healthy liver can be transplanted. Donations which are suspected to include some form of monetary compensation are illegal however. All forms of liver donation are illegal in Australia.

Liver is one of the few organs that has the ability to re-generate, so donated liver tissue can regrow within a few weeks. It is still however considered a risky procedure for both the recipient and donor.

It you are facing imminent liver failure due to extensive liver mets, a liver transplant could be your only option for survival.

Resources

Liver Transplantation for Nonresectable Liver Metastases From Colorectal Cancer.

About Ren

I have been diagnosed with stage 4, metastatic colorectal cancer in October 2012, 3 days after my 44th birthday. There is no cure, but I am determined to go down the road less travelled to find one. I have setup this blog to document my journey and hopefully help others in the process. My view is that if there is a cure, it does not lie with traditional chemo, but with the immune system. Time will tell.
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