The role of living donor liver transplantation in colorectal cancer liver metastases.

Purpose of review: Despite technical and therapeutic advances, only 20-40% of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) have resectable disease. Historically, the remaining patients with unresectable, liver-only CRLM would receive palliative chemotherapy, with a median survival of 8 months.

Recent findings: Liver transplantation has emerged as a viable option for selected patients with CRLM. This advancement stems from improved understanding of tumour genomics and biology and better patient selection criteria. The results of recent prospective clinical trials have further ignited enthusiasm for liver transplantation as a viable therapeutic option. Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) offers several advantages over deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) for this disease, including reduced wait-time and optimized timing and coordination of oncologic therapy. On-going LDLT clinical trials have demonstrated favourable outcomes as compared with other liver transplantation indications. However, there is no established consensus or standardization in the implementation of LDLT for CRLM, beyond trials and centre-specific protocols.

Summary: LDLT is an excellent therapeutic option in highly selected patients with CRLM. Refining prognostic factors and selection criteria will help to further optimize the utility and broaden the acceptance and implementation of LDLT for patients with CRLM.