INNOVATION / THE IMPACT
New evidence.
Better care.
LiT-Met will provide important new evidence on the role of liver transplantation for patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver. We seek to show whether liver transplantation (LT) can be a superior alternative to complex liver resection (LR) and help patients live longer, thus filling a long-standing gap in European cancer care.
By comparing these two treatment approaches through large-scale data analysis and the first prospective randomised clinical trial, LiT-Met will address a major gap in current medical knowledge.
LiT-Met findings will help doctors, health systems and policymakers make more informed treatment decisions and support the development of consistent, evidence-based care across Europe.
Who benefits
Patients
Longer survival, improved quality of life, and more equitable access to care.
Researchers
Access to high-quality multicentre evidence, multimodal datasets and innovative AI tools.
Healthcare Systems
Actionable evidence on clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and patient-centred outcomes.
Clinicians
Enhanced capacity to personalise treatment and optimise patient selection.
Innovation in practice
AI for personalised decisions
LiT-Met will use artificial intelligence (AI) to help identify which patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) are most likely to benefit from liver transplantation (LT). By combining information from medical records, scans, tissue samples, and blood-based biomarkers such as circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), the project will develop a prediction tool and Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) to support more personalised and fair treatment decisions.
Understanding cancer recurrence
The project will also deepen our understanding of why cancer returns after treatment. Through detailed analysis of tumour biology and ctDNA, together with innovative research using donated human livers maintained outside the body through machine perfusion, LiT-Met will investigate the biological factors that drive recurrence and create opportunities to test new treatment approaches.
Value for healthcare systems
To support healthcare decision-making, LiT-Met will carry out the first Europe-wide cost-effectiveness study comparing liver transplantation with liver resection (surgical removal of part of the liver) in patients with borderline resectable disease. The analysis will consider treatment costs, long-term outcomes, and the costs of emerging technologies such as machine perfusion, helping healthcare systems use resources responsibly while ensuring fair access to donor organs.
Patients at the centre
LiT-Met will also place patients at the centre of research by developing and validating a new quality-of-life questionnaire specifically designed for people with CRLM. This will ensure that patients' experiences, wellbeing, and priorities are considered alongside clinical outcomes when making treatment decisions and developing future guidelines.
Shared European guidelines
A key outcome of LiT-Met will be the creation of the first pan-European, evidence-based guideline for liver transplantation in CRLM. Developed together with clinicians, policymakers, and patient representatives, these recommendations will help harmonise care across Europe, reduce inequalities between countries, and improve access to life-extending treatments for eligible patients.