How long can a liver cancer transplant patient live? Determined by many factors

Modern people are under great pressure in life, coupled with many bad habits in life. Liver cancer is closely related to smoking, drinking and diet, and severe cases can endanger life. So how long can a person live after a liver cancer transplant?

Liver transplant surgery is mainly performed on patients with end-stage liver disease caused by various reasons, whose expected survival time is no more than half a year, such as cirrhosis, chronic severe liver disease, liver cancer, biliary atresia (more common in children), and liver disease caused by congenital metabolic diseases. Among them, liver cancer accounts for about 40% of the surgeries.

At present, the medical community generally divides liver diseases into benign liver diseases and malignant liver diseases. The so-called benign liver diseases refer to liver diseases other than tumors, such as cirrhosis and chronic severe liver disease. The survival rate of such patients after liver transplantation is very high, and there is basically no problem of recurrence; malignant liver disease is liver cancer, which has two types, divided by the size of the tumor. One type is less than 5 cm in diameter or the number of multiple tumors is less than 3, and the sum of the diameters of the 3 tumors is less than 5 cm, which is called early liver cancer or small liver cancer; the other type is greater than 5 cm in diameter or more than 3 tumors, and the sum of the diameters is greater than 5 cm, which is called mid-to-late liver cancer.

The five-year survival rate of patients with small liver cancer after surgery is as high as 70% to 80%, which is significantly higher than other treatments, such as surgical resection and interventional therapy. The chance of recurrence after five years is very small, almost zero. However, due to the risk of recurrence, the five-year survival rate of patients with advanced liver cancer is less than 50%, about 30%, and they can generally only live for one to two years.

Surgery is not recommended for advanced liver cancer. Due to problems such as tight liver supply, hospitals abroad generally do not treat patients with advanced liver cancer. In my country, this problem does not exist, but for this part of patients, hospitals also recommend not to have surgery. There are two reasons: First, the cost of surgery is very expensive. Usually, one surgery alone costs about 200,000 yuan, not including the cost of postoperative drugs and nursing. This cost is not affordable for every family; and the more important reason is that even if surgery is performed, it can only extend the patient's life by one to two years, and it cannot play a substantial role in prolonging life, because even without surgery, you can live for 5-6 months.

After liver transplantation, patients will experience certain changes both physically and emotionally, so family members should give more care and love. In addition, they should follow the doctor's orders to take medicine on time, develop the habit of regular physical examinations, and keep abreast of their physical condition after the operation.