Rates and patterns of recurrence following curative intent surgery for colorectal liver metastasis: an international multi-institutional analysis of 1669 patients.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate rates and patterns of recurrence in patients following curative intent surgery for colorectal liver metastasis.


BACKGROUND
Outcomes following surgical management of colorectal liver metastasis have largely focused on overall survival. Contemporary data on rates and patterns of recurrence following surgery for colorectal liver metastasis are limited.


METHODS
One thousand six hundred sixty-nine patients treated with surgery (resection +/- radiofrequency ablation [RFA]) for colorectal liver metastasis between 1982 and 2008 were identified from an international multi-institutional database. Clinicopathologic data, recurrence patterns, and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were analyzed.


RESULTS
At the time of the initial liver-directed surgery, surgical treatment was resection only (90.2%), resection plus RFA (8.0%), or RFA alone (1.8%). While 5-year overall survival was 47.3%, 947 (56.7%) patients recurred with a median RFS time of 16.3 months. First recurrence site was intrahepatic only (43.2%), extrahepatic only (35.8%), intra- and extrahepatic (21.0%). There was no difference in RFS based on site of recurrence (intrahepatic: 16.9 months; extrahepatic: 16.6 months; intra- and extrahepatic: 16.2 month; P > 0.05). Receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with overall recurrence risk (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.56), while history of RFA (HR = 2.39, P = 0.001) and R1 margin status (HR = 1.36) were predictive of intrahepatic recurrence. Pattern of recurrence and RFS remained similar following repeat surgery for recurrent disease.


CONCLUSIONS
While 5-year survival following surgery for colorectal liver metastasis approaches 50%, over one-half of patients develop recurrence within 2 years. The pattern of failure is distributed relatively equally among intrahepatic, extrahepatic, and intra- plus extrahepatic sites. Patients undergoing repeat surgery for recurrent metastasis have similar patterns of recurrence and RFS time.
de Jong
Mechteld C
MC
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Pulitano
Carlo
C
Ribero
Dario
D
Strub
Jennifer
J
Mentha
Gilles
G
Schulick
Richard D
RD
Choti
Michael A
MA
Aldrighetti
Luca
L
Capussotti
Lorenzo
L
Pawlik
Timothy M
TM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome