Background Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receiving palliative chemotherapy have a 5‐year survival rate of approximately 10 per cent. Liver transplantation using strict selection criteria in patients with colorectal cancer and unresectable liver‐only disease will result in a 5‐year survival rate of 56–83 per cent. The aim of this study was to evaluate survival of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) after liver transplantation using extended criteria for both patients and donors. Methods This was a prospective single‐arm study. Patients with synchronous unresectable CRLM who were not suitable for arms A, B or C of the SEcondary CAncer (SECA) II study who had undergone radical resection of the primary tumour and received chemotherapy were included; they underwent liver transplantation with extended criteria donor grafts. Patients who had resectable pulmonary metastases were eligible for inclusion. The main exclusion criteria were BMI above 30 kg/m² and liver metastases larger than 10 cm. Survival was estimated using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Results Ten patients (median age 54 years; 3 women) were included. They had an extensive liver tumour load with a median of 20 (range 1–45) lesions; the median size of the largest lesion was 59 (range 15–94) mm. Eight patients had (y)pN2 disease, six had poorly differentiated or signet ring cell‐differentiated primary tumours, and five had primary tumour in the ascending colon. The median Fong clinical risk score was 3 (range 2–5) and the median Oslo score was 1 (range 1–4). The median plasma carcinoembryonic antigen level was 4·3 (range 2–4346) μg/l. Median disease‐free and overall survival was 4 and 18 months respectively. Conclusion Patients with unresectable liver‐only CRLM undergoing liver transplantation with extended patient and donor criteria have relatively short overall survival.

Background Solid organ recipients have a 2‐5 fold increased risk of malignancy compared to the general population. Due to broader indications for transplantation it is anticipated that an increasing number of organ graft recipients will present with malignancy. There are limited data about responses and tolerance to chemotherapy in solid organ transplanted patients. Patients and methods Twenty‐three of 46 colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with non‐resectable liver metastases who had undergone liver transplantation (LT) in three different studies were included. All patients had received chemotherapy both prior to LT and after LT, at recurrence of metastatic CRC (mCRC). Adverse reactions (grade 3‐4) and clinical and radiological outcome were retrospectively registered. Overall survival was determined from start of palliative chemotherapy after LT. Results No graft rejection was observed. Chemotherapy for mCRC was overall well tolerated and there was no increased bone marrow toxicity registered after LT, however, mucositis and diarrhea were more frequent in post LT chemotherapy. Median overall survival from start of palliative chemotherapy after LT was 13 months. Conclusions No graft loss was observed when chemotherapy for mCRC was given to LT recipients who had developed non‐resectable metastases. Overall, the chemotherapy for mCRC was well tolerated, induced responses, and long‐term survival was obtained in some patients.

Liver transplantation (LT) in selected colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with nonresectable liver-only metastases may result in 5-year overall survival of up to about 70–100%. However, the majority will have recurrent disease. All patients included in this report were included in prospective studies. Forty-four out of 56 patients had a relapse, and all 44 patients received treatment for recurrent disease. The organ of the first relapse was lung metastases in 23 of the 44 patients. The first treatment modality of the relapse was the treatment with curative intent in 55.8% of the patients, and chemotherapy was the first treatment administered to 25.6% of the patients. Patients receiving surgery of lung metastases had a 5-year overall survival of 66.5% from the time of metastasectomy. Patients receiving treatment with curative intent for metastases to other organs had a 5-year overall survival of 24.8%. Nine of the 44 patients had no evidence of disease (NED) at the end of the follow-up. Median time of NED in these patients was 54.3 months, and median overall survival from the time of LT was 8.4 years. Because of the high incidence of recurrent disease, these patients should have a systematic long-term follow-up since many of the relapses may be treated with curative intent.

(2018). Graft rejection after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in solid organ transplant recipients. Acta Oncologica: Vol. 57, No. 10, pp. 1414-1418.

The objective of the study was to determine the impact of PET uptake on liver metastases on overall survival (OS) after resection of pulmonary metastases in patients who had received liver transplantation (LT) due to unresectable colorectal liver-only metastases. Resection of pulmonary colorectal metastases is controversial. Some hospitals offer this treatment to selected patients, whereas other hospitals do not perform the procedure in colorectal cancer patients who develop pulmonary metastases. All patients included in the LT studies who developed pulmonary metastases as first site of relapse, and had resection of these as first treatment, were included in this report. Metabolic tumor volume (MTV) in liver was derived from the pre-transplant PET examinations. OS from time of resection was calculated by the Kaplan–Meier method. Patients with low MTV (70 cm³). Patients with low MTV in the liver had 10-year OS from time of pulmonary resections of 86%. Liver MTV values from pre-transplant PET examinations may predict long OS in colorectal cancer patients with a resection of pulmonary metastases developing after LT. Thus, in selected colorectal cancer patients developing pulmonary metastases resection of these metastases should be the treatment of choice.

Liver transplantation (LT) for patients with non-resectable colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) offers improved survival and has gained increased interest internationally the last years. The aim of this study was to describe the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with non-resectable CRLM receiving LT and how baseline HRQoL factors affect overall survival (OS). HRQoL data in the SECA (SEcondary CAncer) LT cohort was compared to data obtained from colorectal cancer patients starting first-line chemotherapy for metastatic disease in a clinical trial and data from a Norwegian normal population. HRQoL data from the QLQ-C30 questionnaire used in the SECA LT study and the NORDIC- VII study were reported. The relationship between patient-reported symptom burden at baseline and OS was investigated. In the SECA study longitudinal HRQoL assessment was used to describe the time until definitive deterioration as well as mean values at different time points. Patients in the SECA and NORDIC-VII studies reported similar baseline HRQoL. The median time until definitive deterioration in the transplanted patients was estimated to 36 months. In the SECA study appetite loss and pain at baseline had negative impact on OS (25.3 versus 71.7 months, p = 0.002 and 39.7 versus 71.7 months, p = 0.038, respectively). Despite a relapse in most of the LT patients the Global Health Score (GHS) remained good. Pain, and especially appetite loss at time of transplantation is associated with poor outcome after LT.