The timing of surgery for resecable metachronous liver metastases from colorectal cancer: Better sooner than later? A retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND: The benefit of preoperative chemotherapy in patients with initially resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer is still a matter of debate. AIMS: We aim to evaluate the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the outcome of patients with colorectal cancer metachronous liver metastases undergoing potentially curative liver resection. METHODS: One-hundred four patients were available for analysis. Tested variables included age, sex, primary tumour TNM stage, location and grading, the number of liver metastases, monolobar or bilobar location, interval time between liver metastases diagnosis and liver resection, Fong Clinical Risk Score (CRS). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered according to the FOLFOX4 regimen. RESULTS: Forty-four patients underwent liver resection without receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (group A); 60 patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (group B). At univariate analysis, only the time of liver resection seemed to affect overall survival: patients in group A showed a median survival time significantly superior to that of patients in group B (48 vs. 31 months; p=0.0358). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that, when feasible, resection of liver metastases should be considered as an initial approach in this setting. Further studies are needed to better delineate innovative therapeutic strategies that may lead to an improved outcome for colorectal cancer patients with surgically resectable liver metastases.