Apple CEO Steve Jobs' liver transplant earlier this year was the work of a surgeon who treats recurrences of the rare cancer Jobs had five years ago, according to a Bloomberg profile of the doctor.
Dr. James Eason
(Credit: UT Medical Group)In his first interview since performing Jobs' transplant in the spring, Dr. James Eason told Bloomberg this week that he has replaced the livers of about 10 people with a neuroendocrine tumor. Jobs was treated for that cancer in his pancreas back in 2004, but he hasn't said whether this year's liver transplant was related to a recurrence of the cancer.
Jobs returned to work in June after a medical leave of absence that started in January.
Eason, who trained at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, is head of transplants at the Methodist University Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.
The surgeon said he couldn't comment on the details of Jobs' health, though he did tell Bloomberg that Jobs is "really a genuinely nice person."
Eason did deny that Jobs, who lives in Silicon Valley, bypassed any transplant waiting list by relocating to Tennessee.
"It's not gaming the system," he told Bloomberg. "It's people choosing where they want their health care. Some people would leave Tennessee to go to California or somewhere else to seek treatment. Now we have people coming from California to Tennessee."
Eason said he will only undertake a liver transplant on a neuroendocrine tumor patient when he is certain that he can completely rid someone of all the spreading cancer. According to what he told Bloomberg, his results with such patients are about the same as those of other liver-cancer sufferers--about 70 percent have healthy organs five years post-transplant.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs briefly addressed his state of health onstage at an Apple event last October.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)A Memphis, Tenn., hospital confirmed Tuesday that Apple CEO Steve Jobs received a liver transplant there two months ago and said he is "recovering well and has an excellent prognosis."
Jobs, who returned to work at Apple's campus on Monday after a six-month medical leave, "received a liver transplant because he was the patient with the highest MELD score (model for end-stage liver disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available," according to a statement by Dr. James D. Eason, the program director of the Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis.
"The waiting list for liver transplants was smaller than in other states, such as California," Eason said.
While Eason said the confirmation was being provided with Jobs' approval, he cited patient confidentiality in saying that he could not reveal any further information on the specifics of Jobs' surgery.
Apple representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
News of the transplant broke Friday night when The Wall Street Journal reported, in a story that cited no sources, that Jobs had received a transplant in Tennessee about two months ago. Earlier this year, Apple's CEO was reported to be relocating from California to Tennessee.
In January, after Jobs announced that he would step aside from his day-to-day duties for a six-month medical leave of absence, Bloomberg reported that Apple's CEO was considering a liver transplant.
Jobs, 54, has been the subject of heated speculation regarding his health since last June's Worldwide Developers Conference, when he appeared to have lost a great deal of weight. At the time, Apple insisted that Jobs' health was a private matter, but in early January revealed that Jobs was suffering from a hormone imbalance that was impeding his body's ability to absorb certain proteins.
In August 2004, Jobs underwent successful surgery to treat a rare form of pancreatic cancer, which sidelined him until September of that year. Much of the speculation over the past year had been over whether that cancer had returned.
Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute said it performed 120 liver transplants in 2008, making it one of the 10 largest liver transplant centers in the country.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs briefly addressed his state of health onstage at an Apple event last October.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave from Apple for the past six months, received a liver transplant in Tennessee two months ago, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal that did not cite sources.
Earlier this year, Apple's CEO was reported to be relocating from California to Tennessee, which has a shorter waiting list for patients seeking organs, the report noted. In January, after Jobs announced that he would step aside from his day-to-day duties for a six-month medical leave of absence, Bloomberg reported that Apple's CEO was considering a liver transplant. In a telephone interview at the time, Jobs refused to comment on his health status.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but an Apple representative told the Journal that Jobs "continues to look forward to returning at the end of June, and there's nothing further to say."
Jobs is expected to return to the helm of Apple this month after nearly six months of medical leave. Jobs announced in January that he would be stepping down temporarily from the chief executive post while recuperating from a hormone imbalance. Some hoped his return to the company would coincide with an appearance at the Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month to announce the new iPhone 3G S, but that did not pan out for Apple faithful.
Jobs, 54, has been the subject of heated speculation regarding his health since last June's Worldwide Developers Conference, when he appeared to have lost a great deal of weight. At the time, Apple insisted that Jobs' health was a private matter but revealed in early January that Jobs was suffering from a hormone imbalance that was impeding his body's ability to absorb certain proteins.
In August 2004, Jobs underwent successful surgery to treat a rare form of pancreatic cancer, which sidelined him until September of that year. Much of the speculation over the past year had been over whether that cancer had returned.
Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, has been running the company during Jobs' absence.
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