Prospective cohort study of prognostic factors for survival after liver transplant for liver metastases from colorectal cancer

Liver transplant for colorectal cancer with liver metastases was abandoned in the 1990s due to poor overall survival. From 2006, liver transplant for nonresectable colorectal liver metastases has been reexamined in various prospective studies. A nonrandomized controlled trial of 61 patients who underwent liver transplant in these studies at Oslo University Hospital (Norway) found that in selected cases a 10-year overall survival of 80% or more may be achieved. The authors conclude that these findings suggest that highly selected patients with non resectable colorectal liver metastases, who have low probability of long-term survival when treated with conventional regimens, may obtain similar long-term survival as patients with other malignant diagnoses who currently receive liver transplant as standard-of-care treatment.