Chinese scientists have successfully transplanted a gene-edited pig liver into a 71-year-old patient with large right-lobe liver cancer. This marks a groundbreaking medical procedure.
This is the world’s first liver xenotransplantation surgery on a living human. It is considered “one of the most significant breakthroughs in the medical field,” citing the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University.
Professor Sun Beicheng’s team performed the surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital on May 17.
Seven days after the surgery, the patient can move freely without acute or hyperacute rejection reactions. There are no abnormalities in the coagulation system, and liver function has returned to normal.
During the surgery, the tumour in the patient’s right liver was removed. The remaining left liver lobe was found insufficient to meet the patient’s liver function needs.
Scientists transplanted the gene-edited pig liver into the patient’s right liver fossa. The surgery proceeded well, with bile secretion beginning immediately.
