The treatment of patients with colorectal liver metastases at the department of abdominal surgery in the general hospital Marribor

• Published in: Zdravniški vestnik (Ljubljana, Slovenia : 1992) Slovenia : 1992), 2007-04, Vol.76 (4)
• Main Authors: Arpad Ivanecz, Stojan Potrč, Matjaž Horvat, Eldar Gadžijev
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 5-year survival; colorectal cancer; liver metastases; surgery
• ISSN: 1318-0347; 1581-0224

Background: Liver resection, in collaboration with new diagnostic tools and chemotherapeutic agents, is the only potentially curative therapy for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM).Methods: In the period from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2004, 94 patients with CRLM were treated in our departement. Liver resection was possible for 84 patients. 110 procedures were performed in these patients.Results: At the end of the study (December 31, 2005), 22 patients were alive with no evidence of disease, 20 patients were alive with disease and 42 patients died of disease. The median follow-up for surviving patients was 33.8 months (from 13 to 123). The overall 5-year survival rate of the whole group of patients (R0 and R1 resections together) was 38 % with median survival 29.3 months. The overall 5-year survival of patients with R0 resection was 42 % with median survival of 32.3 months. The overall 5-year survival of patients with R1 resection was 29 % with median survival of 25.7 months. The postoperative complication rate was 23.8 % mortality was 2.3 %.Conclusions: Providing that decisions regarding the therapeutic approach are carried out in a multidisciplinary manner in specialized centers in collaboration with surgeons, oncologists and radiologists, we can offer a cure to some patients with CRLM.