Comparison of surgical outcomes in patients with colorectal liver metastases versus non-colorectal liver metastases: A Chinese experience

Aim: To compare the surgical treatment outcomes between patients with colorectal liver metastases (CLM) and non-colorectal liver metastases (NCLM).

Methods: The study population consisted of 132 patients undergoing hepatectomy at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital between January 1996 and December 2008. Survival analyses were used to assess the differences in prognosis and survival between groups.

Results: The primary tumor site was colorectal in 60 (45.5%), breast in 16 (12.1%), lung in 14 (10.6%), non-colorectal gastrointestinal in 12 (9.1%), genitourinary in 10 (7.6%), pancreatobiliary tumor (n = 8, 6.1%) and others in 12 (9.1%). A curative liver resection was performed in all patients by pathological findings. After a median follow-up of 32 months, the overall 3- and 5-year survival rate was 44.7 and 29.5% in all patients, respectively. The 3- and 5-year survival rates were 53.3 and 36.7% for liver metastases from colorectal tumors, 62.5 and 43.8% from breast, 60.0 and 40.0% from genitourinary neoplasm, 41.7 and 25.0% from non-colorectal gastrointestinal cancer, 28.5 and 15.0% from lung, 12.5 and 0% from pancreatobiliary malignancies, and 41.7 and 8.3% from other sites, respectively.

Conclusions: Hepatic resection is an effective and safe treatment for liver metastases mainly depending on primary tumor sites. Hepatic metastases from non-colorectal gastrointestinal cancer, pulmonary and pancreatobiliary malignancies have the worst prognosis; those from breast and genitourinary neoplasm show the best prognosis.