The MUHC transplant Program performs over 40 liver transplants every year, with more than 600 to date. The MUHC team has led the way in the development of new strategies for those suffering from end-stage liver disease.
Prior to 1992, patients with Hepatitis B were not considered candidates for transplantation, due to the uniformly fatal recurrence of the virus in the new organ. With the introduction of a successful combination of agents, the team at the MUHC was the first to show that liver transplantation could be performed without re-infection. Today, the treatment of Hepatitis B has become a standard.
Similarly, those with very large primary liver cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma, were not considered for transplantation in the past. Using a combination of chemotherapy and embolization with advanced radiological techniques, the MUHC has been able to offer a lifesaving transplant to these individuals as well, with more than 60% being able to live many years, cancer free, after surgery.
Multi-organ transplants have always been one of the MUHC’s strengths, thanks to the close collaboration of specialists from different fields. In liver transplantation, patients may have kidney or heart failure complicating their disease. The MUHC has a long history of combined liver-kidney transplants and, in 2006, performed the first combined liver and heart transplant in Quebec, a procedure successfully done in only a handful of patients around the world.
The liver transplant program continues to grow and succeed. New protocols are being developed and implemented, such as the combination of targeted radiation therapy followed by transplantation for cancer of the bile ducts, cholangiocarcinoma, a previously untreatable and devastating disease. The MUHC has been chosen as one of only two centres in Canada to implement this innovative protocol
In liver transplantation, the MUHC continues its strong tradition of leading the way.