title: Validity of hepatic resection of colorectal liver metastases in the elderly (75 years and older).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the validity of surgical therapy for colorectal liver metastases in the elderly patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1992 and 2004, 401 patients were diagnosed as having liver metastases from colorectal cancer. These comprised 64 patients aged 75 years or older and 337 patients aged less than 75 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and thirty-two patients (57.9%) underwent potentially curative hepatic resection. Postoperative complications occurred in 29.6% of the older patients and in 23.4% of the younger patients. Mortality was 0% in the older group and 0.5% in the younger group. The overall 5-year survival rates of the older and younger group were 33.2% and 47.9%, respectively (p < 0.01). The proportion of patients who died of other diseases was significantly higher in the older (11.1%) than the younger group (2.0%) (p = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age cannot be regarded as a medical contraindication for hepatic resection of colorectal liver metastases.
authors.affiliation: Yokohama City University Medical Centre, Gastroenterological Centre, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nojiri
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.forename: Kuniya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
authors.forename: Mituyoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Shouichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Chikara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kunisaki
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Togo
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimada