Background: Consensus has not been reached concerning the timing of hepatectomy in patients with synchronous colorectal liver metastases, specifically with respect to patient selection criteria for simultaneous resection of the colorectal primary and the liver metastasis.
Methods: Retrospectively obtained clinicopathologic data for 39 consecutive patients with synchronous colorectal cancer metastases to the liver, who underwent curative simultaneous "1-stage" hepatectomy and resection of the colorectal primary at 1 institution, were subjected to univariate and multivariate analysis concerning the safety and success of the combined procedure.
Results: Only the volume of the resected liver was selected as a risk factor for postoperative complications (350 g mean resected liver volume in patients with postoperative complications vs 150 g in those without complications; P <.05). Patient age of 70 years or older (P <.05) and poorly differentiated or mucinous adenocarcinoma as the primary lesion (P <.01) predicted decreased overall survival by univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis retained histologic differentiation of the colorectal primary as an independent survival predictor (P <.05).
Conclusions: A 1-stage procedure appears desirable for synchronous colorectal hepatic metastases except for patients requiring resection of more than 1 hepatic section, patients aged 70 years or older, and those with poorly differentiated or mucinous adenocarcinomas as primary lesions.