A liver transplant can be an effective treatment for some people with primary liver cancer. It involves removing the whole liver and replacing it with a healthy liver from another person (a donor).
However, liver transplants are suitable for only a small number of people. Those with a single tumour or several small tumours may be able to have a transplant. A liver transplant may also be considered if other therapies such as TACE can shrink the tumour first. This is called downstaging.
To be considered for a liver transplant, you also need to be reasonably fit, not smoke or take illegal drugs, and have stopped drinking alcohol for at least six months.
Liver transplants are not possible when the cancer has spread (metastasised) to other organs or to major blood vessels.
Currently, all liver transplants in Australia are performed in public hospitals and there is no cost for in-hospital services. You will usually have to pay for medicines you continue to take once you leave the hospital after the transplant.
Waiting for a liver transplant
Donor livers are scarce and waiting for a suitable liver may take many months or even several years. During this time, the cancer may continue to grow. As a result, most people have tumour ablation or TACE to control the cancer while they wait for a donor liver to become available.
Unfortunately, in some people the cancer progresses despite having tumour ablation or TACE, and a liver transplant will no longer be possible. If this happens, you will be taken off the liver transplant waiting list and your doctor will discuss other treatment options.
What to expect after a transplant
If you have a liver transplant, you will spend up to three weeks in hospital. It may take 3–6 months to recover and it will probably take time to regain your energy.
You will be given medicines called immunosuppressants to stop your body rejecting the new liver. These drugs need to be taken for the rest of your life.
→ READ MORE: Tumor ablation for primary liver cancer
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A/Prof Simone Strasser, Hepatologist, AW Morrow Gastroenterology and Liver Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and The University of Sydney, NSW (clinical update); A/Prof Siddhartha Baxi, Radiation Oncologist and Medical Director, GenesisCare, Gold Coast, QLD (clinical update); Prof Katherine Clark, Clinical Director of Palliative Care, NSLHD Supportive and Palliative Care Network, Northern Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW; Anne Dowling, Hepatoma Clinical Nurse Consultant and Liver Transplant Coordinator, Austin Health, VIC; A/Prof Koroush Haghighi, Liver, Pancreas and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon, Prince of Wales and St Vincent’s Hospitals, NSW; Karen Hall, 131120 Consultant, Cancer Council SA; Dr Brett Knowles, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and General Surgeon, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and St Vincent’s Hospital, VIC; Lina Sharma, Consumer; David Thomas, Consumer; Clinical A/Prof Michael Wallace, Department of Hepatology and Western Australian Liver Transplant Service, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Medical School, The University of Western Australia, WA; Prof Desmond Yip, Clinical Director, Department of Medical Oncology, The Canberra Hospital, ACT.
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