'Second chance at life' after UK's first liver transplant for advanced bowel cancer

The archetypal diligent successful the UK with precocious bowel crab to person a liver transplant aft the illness dispersed to it has said she had been fixed "a 2nd accidental astatine life".

Bianca Perea, a 32-year-old trainee lawyer from Wigan successful Greater Manchester, had the pioneering cognition successful the summertime of 2024.

Her liver transplant was judged to beryllium a immense success, meaning that pursuing different treatments including targeted cause therapy, chemotherapy and surgery, Ms Perea nary longer has immoderate signs of cancer.

She said: "To spell from being told I'd lone person a abbreviated clip to unrecorded to present being cancer-free is the top gift."

Ms Perea was 29 erstwhile she archetypal visited her GP aft feeling constipated and bloated.

After being referred to infirmary for tests, she was fixed the devastating quality successful November 2021 that she had signifier 4 bowel cancer, which had dispersed to each 8 segments of her liver.

She said: "I really didn't person truly atrocious symptoms astatine all. I'd noticed a alteration successful my bowel habits and besides bloating and a small spot of symptom successful my stomach."

Ms Perea was referred to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust's section attraction centre successful Wigan successful aboriginal December 2021.

There, she had 37 rounds of a targeted cause called panitumumab arsenic good arsenic chemotherapy for two-and-a-half years.

She had an fantabulous effect to the treatment, which meant she could person country successful May 2023 to region her bowel tumour.

However, scans showed she inactive had tumours successful her liver, which could not beryllium removed.

Nevertheless, due to the fact that her effect to chemotherapy had been truthful good, and her bowel crab was seemingly gone, doctors began to see a liver transplant.

Ms Perea was added to the transplant database successful February 2024.

A lucifer was recovered and she received her caller liver astatine Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

She said: "Within 4 weeks of going nether the knife, I was capable to thrust and locomotion the household dogs, it was truly rather incredible.

"I've been fixed a 2nd accidental astatine beingness and I'm going to drawback it with some hands. I americium truthful grateful to the household who agreed to donate their loved one's liver."

She added it was "a blessing" that her donor has not lone helped her, but been a portion of aesculapian history.

She said she was looking guardant to going connected vacation this twelvemonth and was moving connected improving her fitness.

"My liver is doing truly well," she said.

"I get tests connected that, and I've conscionable had my 2nd scan and that's each clear, truthful it's truly good."

Dr Kalena Marti, who was Ms Perea's oncologist astatine The Christie, said: "To spot that Bianca has had specified a affirmative result is wonderful.

"When we looked astatine the tumour cells successful her liver aft it had been removed, they weren't active.

"This is fantabulous news, and we anticipation this means that the crab won't travel back."

She added that portion liver transplants "won't beryllium an enactment for everybody", the occurrence of Ms Perea's attraction offered "more hope" to others.

Dr Marti added: "Advanced bowel crab is analyzable and determination are tons of antithetic types of the disease, truthful what works for 1 idiosyncratic mightiness not enactment for another.

"As a result, it's important we proceed to make caller treatments."

Dr Ian Rowe, honorary advisor hepatologist astatine Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "I'm delighted Bianca has responded truthful good to the attraction and that she is present cancer-free.

"We are, of course, indebted to the household of the organ donor – arsenic is made wide with Bianca's case, organ donation saves lives."

He besides sounded a cautionary note, however.

"I deliberation anticipation is important but the world is this volition beryllium a attraction for a tiny proportionality of people.

"For those radical it volition beryllium the close thing, and we deliberation it volition enactment well.

"The fig of radical who person been transplanted similar this is inactive precise tiny internationally truthful we are each inactive learning astir what those rules should be.

"In clip they volition alteration and we volition larn which patients volition bash amended truthful we tin prime those radical better."

An NHS Blood and Transplant spokesperson said: "The waiting database for an organ transplant is the highest it has been successful a decade."

He said organ donation "saves lives" and described donors and their families arsenic "truly inspirational".

He said helium hoped "the communicative of the donation that changed Bianca's beingness volition animate radical to corroborate their determination to donate connected the NHS Organ Donor Register - it means your household volition beryllium definite that you privation to beryllium an organ donor."

British Liver Trust main enforcement Pamela Healy said: "This pioneering liver transplant offers caller anticipation for radical surviving with precocious bowel cancer.

"Transplantation is lone made imaginable by the selflessness of organ donors and their families. Tragically, hundreds of radical successful the UK dice each twelvemonth portion waiting for a liver transplant owed to the shortage of disposable organs.

"We impulse everyone to corroborate their wishes to go an organ donor and sermon them with loved ones."