Liver transplantation for unresectable colorectal liver metastasis.

Purpose of review: To summarize the current state of liver transplantation (LT) for unresectable colorectal liver metastases (uCRLM), and to address future directions.

Recent findings: The Norwegian secondary cancer (SECA) I and SECA II studies demonstrated that after LT the 5-year survival of a highly selected group of patients with uCRLM could be as high as 60% and 83%, respectively. After long-term follow-up, the 5- and 10-year survival was shown to be 43% and 26%, respectively. Furthermore, data has accumulated in other countries and a North American study reported a 1.5-year survival of 100%. In addition, steady growth has been demonstrated in the US, with 46 patients transplanted to date and 19 centers enrolling patients for this indication. Lastly, although recurrence is almost universal in patients with a high tumor burden, it has not been an accurate surrogate for survival, reflecting the relatively indolent nature of recurrence after LT.

Summary: Growing evidence has shown that excellent survival and even cure can be achieved in highly selected patients with uCRLM, with survival rates far superior than in patients treated with chemotherapy. The next step is to create national registries to standardize selection criteria and establish the optimal approach and best practices for incorporating LT for uCRLM into the treatment armamentarium.