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
. 2022 Aug;407(5):1971-1980.
doi: 10.1007/s00423-022-02499-4. Epub 2022 Mar 26.

Prognostic role of infracentimetric colorectal liver metastases

Affiliations

Prognostic role of infracentimetric colorectal liver metastases

Fabio Frosio et al. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Background: The number of lesions and the size of the largest (CRLMmax) have been widely investigated as prognostic factors in patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). The aim of the present study was to assess whether, in patients undergoing curative liver resection, the presence of infracentimetric lesions could affect recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS).

Methods: Patients who underwent a liver resection for CRLM between 2001 and 2019 were included. The size of CRLM was measured on the surgical specimen. The best cut-off of the smallest lesion (CRLMmin) associated with RFS was determined through the time-dependent ROC analysis. A multivariate Cox regression analysis was carried out.

Results: Overall, 227 patients were included. Median follow-up time was 50 months [IQR 26-84]. Recurrence occurred for 151 (66.5%) patients (liver recurrence in 67.5%, while exclusive extra-hepatic recurrence in 32.5%). The best cut-off for CRLMmin associated with RFS was 9 mm, with 12- and 24-month td-AUC 0.56 and 0.52 respectively. CRLMmin ≤ 9 mm was found to be an independent prognostic factor that impairs RFS at multivariate analysis (HR 1.534 (1.02-2.32), p = 0.042). In particular, CRLMmin ≤ 9 mm was correlated with impaired hepatic RFS (HR 1.860 (1.15-3.01), p = 0.011), but not extra-hepatic RFS.

Conclusions: Infracentimetric metastases (≤ 9 mm) are an independent prognostic factor that impairs hepatic RFS. This result suggests the potential benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT) also in selected patients with initially resectable lesions, in case of CRLM ≤ 9 mm on preoperative imaging.

Keywords: Colorectal liver metastases; Laparoscopic liver resection; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Small infracentimetric metastases; Tumour size.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Manfredi S, Lepage C, Hatem C, Coatmeur O, Faivre J, Bouvier AM (2006) Epidemiology and management of liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Ann Surg 244:254–259 - DOI
    1. Pawlik TM, Schulick RD, Choti MA (2008) Expanding criteria for resectability of colorectal liver metastases. Oncologist 13:51–64 - DOI
    1. Adam R, Delvart V, Pascal G, Valeanu A, Castaing D, Azoulay D, Giacchetti S, Paule B, Kunstlinger F, Ghémard O, Levi F, Bismuth H (2004) Rescue surgery for unresectable colorectal liver metastases downstaged by chemotherapy: a model to predict long-term servival. Ann Surg 240:644–657 - DOI
    1. Viganò L, Capussotti L, Lapointe R, Barroso E, Hubert C, Giuliante F, Ijzermans JN, Mirza DF, Elias D, Adam R (2014) Early recurrence after liver resection for colorectal metastases: risk factors, prognosis, and treatment. A LiverMetSurvey-based study of 6,025 patients. Ann Surg Oncol 21:1276–1286 - DOI
    1. Nordlinger B, Guiguet M, Vaillant JC, Balladur P, Boudjema K, Bachellier P, Jaeck D (1996) Surgical resection of colorectal carcinoma metastases to the liver. A prognostic scoring system to improve case selection, based on 1568 patients. Association Francaise de Chirurgie Cancer 77:1254–1262 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources