Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Nov 13:13:11645-11658.
doi: 10.2147/OTT.S271955. eCollection 2020.

Emerging Role of Immunotherapy for Colorectal Cancer with Liver Metastasis

Affiliations
Review

Emerging Role of Immunotherapy for Colorectal Cancer with Liver Metastasis

Xianzhe Yu et al. Onco Targets Ther. .

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignant tumor in the world and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with the liver as the most common site of distant metastasis. The prognosis of CRC with liver metastasis is poor, and most patients cannot undergo surgery. In addition, conventional antitumor approaches such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and surgery result in unsatisfactory outcomes. In recent years, immunotherapy has shown good prospects in the treatment of assorted tumors by enhancing the host's antitumor immune function, and it may become a new effective treatment for liver metastasis of CRC. However, challenges remain in applying immunotherapy to CRC with liver metastasis. This review examines how the microenvironment and immunosuppressive landscape of the liver favor tumor progression. It also highlights the latest research advances in immunotherapy for colorectal liver metastasis and identifies immunotherapy as a treatment regimen with a promising future in clinical applications.

Keywords: colorectal cancer; deficient DNA mismatch repair; immune checkpoint inhibitors; immunotherapy; liver metastasis; tumor immune microenvironment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest for this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The immunosuppressive microenvironment of the liver and colorectal cancer contributes to liver metastasis and poor survival in colorectal cancer, which can be treated using immunotherapy.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Castejón M, Plaza A, Martinez-Romero J, Fernandez-Marcos PJ, Cabo R, Diaz-Ruiz A. Energy restriction and colorectal cancer: a call for additional research. Nutrients. 2020;12(1):114. doi:10.3390/nu12010114 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sun JJ, Fan GL, Wang XG, Xu K. The research on the influences of hyperthermal perfusion chemotherapy combined with immunologic therapy on the immunologic function and levels of circulating tumor cells of the advanced colorectal cancer patients with liver metastasis. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2017;21(13):3139–3145. - PubMed
    1. Donadon M, Cortese N, Marchesi F, Cimino M, Mantovani A, Torzilli G. Hepatobiliary surgeons meet immunologists: the case of colorectal liver metastases patients. Hepatobiliary Surg Nutr. 2019;8(4):370–377. doi:10.21037/hbsn.2019.03.06 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Matsuoka H, Morise Z, Tanaka C, et al. Repeat hepatectomy with systemic chemotherapy might improve survival of recurrent liver metastasis from colorectal cancer-a retrospective observational study. World J Surg Oncol. 2019;17(1):33. doi:10.1186/s12957-019-1575-y - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tomlinson JS, Jarnagin WR, DeMatteo RP, et al. Actual 10-year survival after resection of colorectal liver metastases defines cure. J Clin Oncol. 2007;25(29):4575–4580. doi:10.1200/JCO.2007.11.0833 - DOI - PubMed