Chinese scientists have successfully performed a gene-edited pig liver transplant for a 71-year-old man suffering from right lobe liver cancer.
According to a statement from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, this marks the world’s first living pig liver transplant. Seven days after the transplant, the patient was able to move freely without any acute rejection reactions and showed no abnormalities in coagulation. Liver function returned to normal, with a daily bile secretion level of approximately 200ml.
The transplant was conducted by a team led by Professor Sun Bochang from the First Affiliated Hospital, in collaboration with Professor Wei Hongjiang from Yunnan Agricultural University, on May 17. The doctors removed a large tumor from the patient’s right lobe. They confirmed that the left lobe was no longer strong enough to meet the liver’s functional demands. Therefore, the surgical team utilized a 514-gram liver from an 11-month-old pig, genetically modified in 10 genes, for the transplant. The pig was raised by researchers from Yunnan Agricultural University.
Professor Sun Bochang applied a new technique to insert the lobe into the patient’s right hepatic cavity by rotating the liver 45 degrees.
“This is a milestone for heterologous pig liver transplantation in living humans, paving the way for complete transplants in the future,” stated Professor Sun Bochang.
Surgeons transplanting pig liver into a 71-year-old patient at the First Affiliated Hospital on May 17. (Photo: First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University).
Previously, the patient had undergone various treatments for right lobe liver cancer without success, facing the risk of bone fracture without prompt intervention. On humane grounds, with the consent of the patient and family, the doctors formed an academic committee to approve and carry out the heterologous transplant.
The surgery establishes global standards for pig liver transplants, utilizing immunosuppressants and managing perioperative care for heterologous liver transplants. This facilitates the integration of similar surgeries into clinical practice.
Earlier, doctors at the Air Force Medical University in China successfully transplanted a pig liver into a brain-dead patient. The gene-edited pig liver was transplanted into the brain-dead individual to simulate treatment methods for patients with liver failure. This transplant aimed to serve research into the therapeutic potential of cross-species transplantation, providing theoretical foundations and supplementing data for future clinical practices.
The anatomical and physiological complexity of the liver is greater than that of the kidneys and heart, so gene-edited pig livers cannot completely replace human livers. Other countries have not yet performed similar pig liver transplants. In the United States, a pioneer in cross-species organ transplantation, only pig kidney and heart transplants have been conducted, with three patients who received pig heart and kidney transplants having passed away; currently, one woman with a pig kidney transplant is being monitored at the hospital.
