Policlinico di Bari performs first liver transplant for colorectal cancer metastases in Puglia

The Policlinico di Bari has performed the first liver transplant in the Puglia region for patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer. The procedure, conducted on July 29 by a team led by Professor Francesco Tandoi, involved a 61-year-old man from the province of Lecce.

The patient had previously undergone robotic resection of colon cancer and chemotherapy at the Panico Hospital in Tricase. Because the metastases were located exclusively in the liver and could not be removed through traditional curative surgery, the transplant was pursued under the TransMet multicenter European study protocol.

The patient was discharged seven days after the operation following a regular postoperative course. Follow-up examinations, including a CT scan two months after the procedure, have shown no signs of disease recurrence. Professor Tandoi noted that while this represents a significant new therapeutic option for selected patients in the region, the treatment is strictly limited to specific cases meeting rigorous clinical, oncological, and transplantological criteria.