Innovative surgery ‘changes the game’ for colorectal cancer that metastasizes to liver (Healio)

Surgeons at Northwestern Medicine performed the first RAPID liver transplant in the U.S., successfully splitting a deceased donor’s liver to save two patients. One recipient, Barclay Missen, had stage IV colorectal cancer with liver metastases and remains cancer-free five months post-transplant. The procedure, inspired by European techniques, allows part of the donor liver to regenerate in the patient’s body before removing the diseased portion, offering a new lifeline for thousands facing liver metastases. Northwestern launched the CLEAR clinical trial to further study the approach, which could also reduce risks for living liver donors in the future.