Liver metastases from colorectal cancer: how to best complement medical treatment with surgical approaches

Abstract

Colorectal liver metastases (CLM) represent a major challenge for oncologists and surgeons. In fact, in this setting, the optimal treatment of patients can achieve a long-term survival and sometimes a definitive cure of disease. In recent years, improvements in both medical therapies and surgical approaches have led to an increased rate of patients considered amenable for surgery on CLM. New perspectives in the management of CLM underline the need for a comprehensive assessment of patient and tumor characteristics, to integrate technical and prognostic issues into an individualized therapeutic strategy in different patient subgroups. The multidisciplinary evaluation from the onset and during treatment remains the key element to maximizing the benefit of more intensive treatment modalities.