Hepatic resection margin predicts survival in colorectal cancer with hepatic metastasis.

Backgrounds/Aims: Prognostic factors for colorectal cancer with hepatic metastasis are not well-established. We investigated the factors that predicted survival following surgical resection of hepatic metastases in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: Fifty-three patients underwent resection of hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer between January 2000 and December 2005, with follow-up periods that ranged from 3 to 119 months. In this retrospective study, the effects of sex, age, type of hepatic resection, T stage and N stage of the primary cancer, number and size of metastatic hepatic tumors, synchronicity or metachronicity of the liver metastases, surgical resection margins, and preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels on 1-year and 3-year survival were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log rank test. Results: Median survival was 39.9 months and the 3-year survival rate was 62.2%. Twenty patients died during the follow-up period of 3 to 119 months (mean, 48.8±34.24). In univariate analysis, only the surgical margin of the hepatic metastasis resection correlated significantly with 3-year survival. Sex, age, T stage and N stage of the primary cancer, synchronicity or metachronicity of the metastases, number and size of hepatic metastases, type of hepatic resection and preoperative CEA levels did not predict long-term outcome. Conclusions: Hepatic resection provides a safe and effective treatment in patients with hepatic metastasis from colorectal cancer. In this study, only the surgical resection margin of the hepatic metastasis of colorectal cancer significantly predicted survival. (Korean J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg 2012;16:55-58)