Liver Transplant Comes as a Rescue For Treating Liver Cancer

Liver is a major component of the human body that is endowed with the responsibility of keeping the blood healthy and rich with oxygen and minerals. It also removes drugs and toxins from the body and synthesizes many proteins and enzymes. Bad lifestyle habits, alcohol consumption and various other reasons lead to damaged liver and its related dysfunctionalities. Continued exposure to such fad habits takes severe turn and may result in diseases as lethal as Liver Cancer.

The most prevalent type of liver cancer cited is hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis B, C, excessive alcohol consumption and even Diabetes are the top reasons of causing cancer in liver. One solution to combat liver cancer is liver transplantation in which the diseased or infected liver is replaced with a healthy liver from a matching donor. It is replaces a failing and non regenerative liver with a normal,healthy and matching one.

Every year around 50,000 to 60,000 patients are in a requirement of liver transplant in India but due to lack of knowledge, expertise and awareness and high cost of the operation, only about 2000 go for the transplant as it the only option with highest success rate.

A great milestone was achieved by the doctors of Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre where the team of specialists were able to combat two rare cases of patients suffering from liver cancer. The first case was of an infant suffering from Hepatoblastoma, a liver cancer that occurs in infants below 2 years of age. He was treated with liver resection but due to residual cancer cells, the doctors eventually had to perform a liver transplant with the donation of the patient’s father’s matching liver. This was a big challenge for the doctors as the condition of the baby was already derailed due to previous surgery and chemotherapy sessions.

Another case that the doctors were able to solve was of a 45 year old woman who had acute liver failure. This was when she was taking treatment for varicose veins. Due to improper guidance and self-medication, the condition worsened and in no time, her liver was showing visible signs of damage. In such a serious and sudden case, the transplant had to be undertaken immediately. The liver was donated by her husband and the operation turned out to be successful.

The man behind these success stories is Dr. A. S Soin, Director and Chief Surgeon at Jaslok Medanta Liver Transplant Program who has done 2500 liver transplants. Dr.Tarang, CEO, Jaslok Hospital and Research Center stated that these special cases require the skills and state of the art equipment to manage the patients.