Liver Transplantation plus Chemotherapy vs. Chemotherapy Alone in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer with liver-only metastases benefit from regional therapies, including surgery. The selective application of liver transplantation in these patients is still debated. Now, investigators report results of the TransMet trial, which involved patients with unresectable liver-confined, BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer who had achieved stable disease or response to ≥3 months of chemotherapy. Patients were randomized to continue chemotherapy or to undergo liver transplantation followed by additional chemotherapy.

Of the 94 patients enrolled, 15% had right-sided primaries, 32% had RAS mutations, nearly 100% presented with synchronous metastases, and 87% achieved either response or stable disease t…