Bianca Perurea, a 32 -year -old man in Manchester, is the first patient in the UK to benefit from a liver transplant for advanced intestinal cancer – and is now completely healed.
Photo archive
After being diagnosed in 2021 with stage four of the disease, the doctors told him that the purpose of the treatment was not healing, but the extension of life. However, due to a complex treatment that included targeted drug therapy, chemotherapy, surgery and, finally, liver transplant, Bianca has no signs of cancer in the body.
Bianca Perurea first visited her family doctor in Wigan, after feeling constipated and bloated. Tests, colonoscopy and biopsy confirmed the most advanced type of intestinal cancer, which had spread in all eight segments of the liver. Initially, the doctors rejected the idea of a transplant, considering it impossible. Instead, Bianca followed 37 Panitumumab therapy sessions, a targeted drug, plus chemotherapy for two and a half years. The excellent response to treatment allowed to be operated on in May 2023 for the removal of the intestinal tumor. However, liver tumors could not be removed.
Due to the spectacular progress following chemotherapy, doctors reassessed the case and decided to include it on the transplant list in February 2024. He was fortunate to receive a compatible liver a few months later.
“Just four weeks after the operation, I could lead and walk the family dogs. It was incredible. To move from me to be told that I will only have a short time to live now without cancer is the biggest gift“, Bianca said in an interview for Sky News.
Dr. Kalena Marti, the oncologist of Biancai, confirmed that the liver tumor cells were no longer active after transplant. “It is an extraordinary news and we hope that this means that the disease will not return ”, said the specialist.
Although advanced intestinal cancer remains a complex condition, doctors believe that due to organ donors, liver transplantation can become a saving option for more patients.
