In a groundbreaking medical achievement in the UK, a 32-year-old woman from Manchester has undergone the country’s first liver transplant for advanced bowel cancer.

Bianca Perea was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2021, with the disease having spread to all eight segments of her liver. Initially given a bleak prognosis, she responded really well to rounds of drug-based treatment. Yet despite the promising response, the disease still remained in her liver. Because the cancer was so widespread, only a transplant would be able to remove the disease.

Perea’s liver transplant was performed in the summer of 2024. She has remained cancer free since then.

Although transplantation is more commonplace in treating primary liver cancers, Perea’s case adds to a growing body of research showing the procedure can benefit patients with advanced bowel cancer.

Bowel cancer (also known as colorectal cancer) is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. It accounts for 11% of all new cancer cases.

The disease can be particularly challenging to treat, especially when diagnosed at an advanced stage – even despite recent developments in immunotherapy. This is because bowel cancer often spreads to the liver – which complicates treatment options and can usually mean the disease is no longer curable.

The standard treatment approach for bowel cancer typically involves a combination of surgery to........

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