Background: This study sought to clarify the clinical benefits of liver resection after downsizing systemic chemotherapy for initially unresectable colorectal liver metastases (CLM).
Methods: Survival and clinical characteristics of CLM patients who underwent resection between January 2001 and December 2013 were retrospectively assessed. The study cohort of 88 patients with limited liver disease who underwent curative liver resection comprised 34 with initially resectable synchronous disease (synchronous group), 38 with initially resectable metachronous disease (metachronous group), and 16 with initially unresectable converted disease (conversion group).
Results: The median duration of follow-up for the overall study population was 33 (1-98) months. Overall survival (OS) in the conversion group was not significantly different from that in the other groups. However, disease-free survival (DFS) in the conversion group was significantly shorter than that in the synchronous group. The median DFS was 19.1 months in the synchronous group, 16.6 months in the metachronous group, and 15.3 months in the conversion group. Most patients in the conversion group had recurrence shortly after liver resection in the remnant liver with or without metastases at other sites, but many could undergo repeat hepatectomy or resection of the metastases at other sites.
Conclusions: Although the converted patients tended to have recurrence shortly after liver resection, survival could be prolonged by repeat hepatectomy or resection of metastases at other sites. Liver resection after downsizing chemotherapy appears to be efficacious for patients with initially unresectable CLM and may result in long-term outcomes equivalent to those of patients with initially resectable CLM.