Liver, and let live

In a first-of-its-kind procedure, a Swiss research team treated a human liver initially considered unfit for transplantation, then implanted it back into a cancer patient. 

One year later, that patient is alive and well.

🏥 A deeper dive...

• The ‘Liver4Life’ team used a specialized perfusion machine that mimics the human body as accurately as possible. This provides ideal conditions for the liver.
• After three days in the machine (where it also received antibiotic and hormonal treatments), the liver was transplanted into a consenting cancer patient who had little chance of getting an organ on the waitlist.
• The next step in the Liver4Life project is a clinical study to demonstrate the procedure’s efficacy and safety on other patients; the scientists said their success would mean that a liver transplant – usually an emergency procedure – could soon be transformed into a plannable elective operation.

🫀 Zoom out: It's been a big week for organ transplants. Houston-based researchers unveiled a novel process yesterday to growing a "ghost heart," a viable organ built around the scaffolding of a pig’s heart that the patient’s body won't reject because it's infused with their own stem cells.