Cleveland Clinic has performed the first full multi-organ transplant with multiple digestive organs to treat a patient with a rare form of appendix cancer.
The operation was led by Anil Vaidya, MD, Cleveland Clinic's Intestinal Transplant Program co-director, according to a July 4 news release. Dr. Vaidya and a team of seven surgeons completed the procedure in September.
The patient had pseudomyxoma peritonei, a cancer that usually begins as a tumor in the appendix. During the procedure, the patient had his liver, stomach, pancreas, duodenum and small intestine removed, the release said.
There is no evidence of the patient's cancer recurring since the procedure, Dr. Vaidya said in the release.