|
Emerging therapies for metastatic carcinoma to the liver
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston
Advances in patient selection, preoperative imaging, surgical techniques, and systemic therapy have led to improvements in clinical outcomes following resection of hepatic metastases in patients with stage IV colorectal carcinoma. These and other improvements have made it possible to perform potentially curative resections in patients who previously would have been considered unresectable or poor candidates for surgery because of the number, size, and location of their metastases; the presence of lymphatic and/or extrahepatic metastases; and other factors. Five-year survival rates following resection of liver metastases in patients with stage IV colorectal cancer have consistently been in the range of 30%–40% and far exceed the survival rates of similar patients who have been treated with chemotherapy alone. Patients with unresectable liver metastases may respond sufficiently to neoadjuvant chemotherapy to permit resection of the metastases. Survival statistics post resection appear to justify taking such an aggressive approach in selected patients.
| Commun Oncol 2006;3:567–573 | full text |  182 kb |