¿Hemos mejorado los resultados posoperatorios y a largo plazo de la hepatectomía por metástasis de cáncer colorrectal? Análisis de 1.736 hepatectomías realizadas a lo largo de tres décadas en un solo centro

Introduction

Surgery is the only potentially curative treatment for colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRCLM) and its indication and results have varied in the last 30 years.

Methods

All patients operated on for CRCLM in our center from 1990 to 2021 were prospectively collected, establishing three subgroups based on the year of the first surgery: group A 1990–1999, group B 2000–2010, group C 2011–2021. Clinical characteristics and the results of survival, recurrence and prognostic factors were compared.

Results

One thousand seven hundred thirty-six hepatectomies were included (Group A n = 208; Group B n = 770; Group C n = 758). Patients in group C had better survival at 5 and 10 years (A 40.5%/28.2%; B 45.9%/32.2%; C 51.6%/33.1%, p = 0.013), although there were no differences between groups in overall recurrence at 5 and 10 years (A 73%/75.7%; B 67.6%/69.2%, and C 63.9%/66%, p = 0.524), nor in liver recurrence (A 46.4%/48.2%; B 45.8%/48.2%; and C 44.4%/48.4%, p = 0.899). An improvement was observed in median survival after recurrence, being 19 months, 23 months, and 31 months (groups A, B and C respectively). Prognostic factors of long-term survival changed over the three study periods. The only ones that remained relevant in the last decade were the presence of > 4 liver metastasis, extrahepatic disease at the time of hepatectomy, and intraoperative blood transfusion.

Conclusions

Survival after surgery for CRCLM has improved significantly, although this cannot be explained by a reduction in overall and hepatic recurrence, but rather by an improvement in post-recurrence survival. Involvement of the resection margin has lost prognostic value in the last decade.