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Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a patient with metastatic colorectal cancer
Clinic for Oncology/Hematology, Klinikum Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
For patients with initially unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer who are otherwise medically fit, neoadjuvant chemotherapy offers the possibility of transforming unfavorable metastatic disease to a resectable tumor burden. In concert with surgical excision, which represents the most effective treatment of colorectal liver metastases, such chemotherapy makes it possible to eradicate or significantly reduce malignant tissue outside the resected field. Although neoadjuvant chemotherapy can pose unanticipated hepatotoxicity issues, a substantial survival advantage may be derived from a preoperative strategy of tumor downsizing followed by hepatic resection.
| Commun Oncol 2007;4(suppl 2):8–11 | full text |  105 kb |