Objective: To analyze the prognostic factors of colorectal cancer patients with synchronous liver metastasis treated by simultaneous colorectal and liver resection.
Methods: The clinical and follow-up data of 44 colorectal cancer patients with synchronous liver metastases who underwent simultaneous colorectal and liver resection from Jan. 1993 to Jan. 2003 were analyzed retrospectively. Survival rate was estimated by Kaplan-Meier method, and was compared using log-rank test. Prognostic factors were analyzed by multivariate Cox proportional hazards model.
Results: The overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 86.3%, 40.9% and 25.0%, respectively. The lymph node metastasis and vascular invasion by cancer cells from the primary tumour were found to affect prognosis significantly, while gender, age, tumor location, histopathological types, the number and distribution of liver metastases were not. Multivariate analysis revealed that the lymph node metastasis was the only independent prognostic factor.
Conclusion: Simultaneous liver and colorectal resection can be performed and may achieve good outcome in colorectal cancer patients with synchronous liver metastases, especially in those without lymph node metastasis.