Patients with liver cancer in Malta will finally be treated locally and not need to be sent abroad as Mater Dei Hospital expands its services.

The important surgery is being carried out by Dr Noel Cassar, who told TVM that he had already successfully operated on five patients who are now cancer-free. The surgeries are being carried out at Mater Dei Hospital.

Prior to this, patients would need to be sent abroad, to the UK or Italy, for the specialised treatment.

Around 25 people die from liver cancer a year, and can be caused by alcohol abuse or even spread from organs towards the large intestine.

As it stands, patients in Malta are still sent abroad for treatment for certain rarer illnesses. However, patients have long been calling for an expanded repertoire of options locally to avoid the stress of sending ill patients and their families abroad during a global pandemic.

However, now liver cancer patients can expect treatment locally.

Not only that, but for the first time, a liver removal from a patient who was clinically dead was successfully undertaken. The liver will now be donated to someone else in need, with Cassar hoping that in the future, liver transplants will one day be performed in Malta.