In a groundbreaking medical achievement, a 71-year-old man with advanced liver cancer received the first liver transplant from a genetically modified pig. The procedure, performed on May 17 at Anhui Medical University’s First Affiliated Hospital in China, resulted in no acute rejection and restored normal liver function. This marks a significant milestone in xenotransplantation.
A man with advanced liver cancer received the first liver transplant from a pig in history. The patient was given a liver transplant from a pig that had had its genes altered, according to Chinese doctors.
This is being hailed as a significant milestone in xenotransplantation, which involves transplanting animal organs into humans.
On May 24, Anhui Medical University’s First Affiliated Hospital announced on WeChat that a 71-year-old man with liver cancer received the organ on May 17. The patient “was able to walk freely, no hyper-acute or acute rejection reactions were found, the coagulation system was not impaired, and liver function had returned to normal,” according to a statement from the university, reported by the South China Morning Post.
The pig’s liver, weighing 514 grams, included ten gene modifications to prevent organ rejection and malfunction
The pig’s liver, weighing 514 grams, included ten gene modifications to prevent organ rejection and malfunction. The liver transplant from the pig was performed after it was determined that the patient’s left lobe of the liver was failing to function properly and was not responding to conventional treatments.
About 200 milliliters of golden bile are secreted daily from the transplanted pig liver, according to hospital head Sun Beicheng, as reported by People’s Daily.
In March, a Chinese team from Air Force Medical University achieved another significant surgical feat by transplanting the first gene-edited pig liver into a patient who had experienced brain death.
Additionally, in March, a US patient became the first person globally to receive a kidney transplant from a gene-modified pig—a procedure previously limited to patients who were clinically dead. Although the patient passed away in May, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston reported that his death was not related to the transplant.