After receiving the first liver transplant in the UK for advanced bowel cancer, a 32-year-old lady is now cancer-free.

In November 2021, Bianca Perea, a Manchester trainee lawyer, received a diagnosis of the most advanced type of bowel cancer. The physicians informed her that their goal was to extend her life rather than discover a cure.

However, in addition to other therapies like chemotherapy, targeted medication therapy, and surgery, the transplant has been a great success, and Ms. Perea no longer has any cancer in any part of her body.

Ms Perea first visited her GP in Wigan after feeling constipated and bloated. After tests, a colonoscopy and a biopsy, she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, which had spread to all eight segments of her liver.

Ms Perea accepted the diagnosis, but said she refused to believe the outlook was so bleak.

"I don't want to sound kind of ignorant or arrogant or anything like that but I just didn't feel in my gut that that was going to be it," she said.

Her mother asked about a possible transplant at that stage but was told it was not a feasible treatment.

Ms Perea had 37 rounds of a targeted drug called panitumumab plus chemotherapy for two and a half years.

She had an excellent response to the treatment, which meant she was able to have an operation in May 2023 to remove the bowel tumour.

But scans showed she still had tumours in her liver, which could not be operated on.

Nevertheless, because her response to chemotherapy had been so good and her bowel cancer was seemingly gone, doctors began to look at liver transplants.

Ms Perea was added to the transplant list in February 2024 and was lucky enough to find a donor last summer.

She said: "Within four weeks of going under the knife, I was able to drive and walk the family dogs, it was really quite incredible.

"To go from being told I'd only have a short time to live to now being cancer-free is the greatest gift.

"I've been given a second chance at life and I'm going to grab it with both hands. I am so grateful to the family who agreed to donate their loved one's liver.

"I do believe this is a cure. They're always hesitant to say that, obviously, but I am cancer-free right now."

Now, Ms Perea is looking forward to going on holiday this year and is working on improving her fitness.

"My liver is doing really well," she said. "I get tests on that, and I've just had my second scan and that's all clear, so it's really good."

Dr Kalena Marti, Ms Perea's oncologist, said: "To see that Bianca has had such a positive outcome is wonderful.

"When we looked at the tumour cells in her liver after it had been removed, they weren't active.

"This is excellent news, and we hope that this means that the cancer won't come back."

She added: "Advanced bowel cancer is complex and there are lots of different types of the disease, so what works for one person might not work for another. As a result, it's important that we continue to develop new treatments.

"Thanks to the generosity of organ donors and their loved ones, we can now access liver transplants for some patients, which is fantastic."