Strategies to increase the resectability of liver metastases from colorectal cancer

Liver resection can provide long-term survival and cure for patients with colorectal liver metastases but is feasible in only 15 - 25% of patients. In the last few years several major developments have contributed to increase this resectability rate. Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy can provide response rates as high as 50%, allowing surgery in about 10 - 15% of patients initially deemed unresectable. Patients requiring extensive liver resections with an anticipated small residual liver volume can undergo portal vein embolization to reduce the risk of postoperative liver failure by inducing hypertrophy of the remnant liver. Extensive bilobar disease can be treated by two-stage hepatectomy, with an interval to allow liver regeneration. Ablation techniques can be combined with hepatic resection to reduce local recurrence from incomplete surgical resection margins or to destroy contralateral tumor deposits. Finally, for patients with tumors involving the inferior vena cava or the hepatic veins, in which conventional resection is not feasible, in situ hypothermia or bench resection with reimplantation are suitable for very selected patients. Downstaging strategies may increase the resectability rate of colorectal liver metastases by over 20%. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel.