Woman cancer-free after UK's first liver transplant for advanced bowel cancer
6 January 2025, 14:18
A 32-year-old woman has been given a “second chance at life” after undergoing the UK's first liver transplant for advanced bowel cancer.
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Bianca Perea was diagnosed with the most advanced kind of bowel cancer in November 2021.
Despite doctors telling her they aimed to prolong her life rather than find a cure, the trainee lawyer from Manchester refused to accept this was the only option.
"I don't want to sound kind of ignorant or arrogant or anything like that but I just didn't feel in my gut that that was going to be it," she said.
And following other treatments, including targeted drug therapy, chemotherapy and surgery, the transplant was a huge success and Ms Perea now has no signs of cancer anywhere in her body.
Ms Perea first visited her GP in Wigan after feeling constipated and bloated and was referred to her local hospital, where high levels of blood were discovered in her stool.
After tests, a colonoscopy and a biopsy, she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, which had spread to all eight segments of her liver.
Her mother asked about a possible transplant at that stage but was told it was not a feasible treatment.
Ms Perea was referred to Christie NHS Foundation Trust’s local treatment centre in December that year, where she underwent 37 rounds of a targeted drug called panitumumab alongside chemotherapy for two and a half years.
She had an excellent response to the treatment, which meant she was able to have an operation in May 2023 to remove the bowel tumour.
But scans showed she still had tumours in her liver, which could not be operated on.
However, after responding so well to chemotherapy and with her bowel cancer was seemingly gone, doctors considered a liver transplant.
Ms Perea was added to the transplant list in February 2024 and was fortunate enough to find a donor last summer before having the operation at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
She said: "Within four weeks of going under the knife, I was able to drive and walk the family dogs, it was really quite incredible.
"To go from being told I'd only have a short time to live to now being cancer-free is the greatest gift.
"I've been given a second chance at life and I'm going to grab it with both hands. I am so grateful to the family who agreed to donate their loved one's liver.
"I do believe this is a cure. They're always hesitant to say that, obviously, but I am cancer-free right now."
Ms Perea is now looking forward to going on holiday and is working on improving her fitness.
"My liver is doing really well," she said. "I get tests on that, and I've just had my second scan and that's all clear, so it's really good."
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Dr Kalena Marti, Ms Perea's oncologist, said: "To see that Bianca has had such a positive outcome is wonderful.
"When we looked at the tumour cells in her liver after it had been removed, they weren't active.
"This is excellent news, and we hope that this means that the cancer won't come back."
Dr Ian Rowe, honorary consultant hepatologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are, of course, indebted to the family of the organ donor – as is made clear with Bianca’s case, organ donation saves lives.
“It is important that people register their decision to donate on the NHS organ donor register and make their decision known to their loved ones. Families will always be consulted on any decisions around organ donation.”
