Abstract
BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) accounts for 9.7% of all cancers with 1.4 million new cases diagnosed each year. 19-31% of CRC patients develop colorectal liver metastases (CRLM), and 23-38% develop extra-hepatic disease (EHD). The aim of this systematic review was to determine overall survival (OS) in patients resected for CRLM and known EHD. METHODS: A systematic review was undertaken to identify studies reporting OS after resection for CRLM in the presence of EHD. Proportional meta-analyses and relative risk of death before five years were assessed between patient groups. RESULTS: A total of 15,144 patients with CRLM (2308 with EHD) from 52 studies were included. Three and 5-year OS were 58% and 26% for lung, 37% and 17% for peritoneum, and 35% and 15% for lymph nodes, respectively. The combined relative risk of death by five years was 1.49 (95% CI = 1.34-1.66) for lung, 1.59 (95% CI = 1.16-2.17) for peritoneal and 1.70 (95% CI = 1.57-1.84) for lymph node EHD, in favour of resection in the absence of EHD. CONCLUSION: This review supports attempts at R0 resection in selected patients and rejects the notion that EHD is an absolute contraindication to resection.
