Liver Surgery Boosts Bowel Cancer Survival Rate

A new study shows that liver resection in patients with stage IV bowel cancer can boost five-year survival rate by almost 46%.

Researchers of the United Kingdom National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN; London) conducted a population-based study that followed 114,155 patients identified via the National Cancer Data Repository who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer between January 1998 and June 2004, of whom 3,116 (2.7%) subsequently had one or more hepatic resections; the hepatectomy rate increased from 1.7% in 1998 to 3.8% in 2004. All episodes of care in the 3 years after the initial operation were examined to determine the frequency of liver resection, and variations in the use of liver resection and survival were assessed.

The researchers found there was significant variation in the rate of liver resection across cancer networks and hospitals; the crude 5-year survival rate after liver resection was 44.2% from the time of hepatectomy and 45.9% from the time of colectomy. This was comparable to the 5-year survival rate of patients with stage III disease (42.2%). The study was published online on June 2, 2010, in the British Journal of Surgery.

"This surgery is very skilled and should be undertaken by expert surgeons working in specialist liver units,” said lead author Eva Morris, M.D., of the University of Leeds (United Kingdom). "We must work towards ensuring that all patients who need liver resections can access these services.”

Although first performed in 1943, the liver resection technique only became accepted practice in the mid 1990's, as initially it was very high-risk surgery. It ultimately became the gold standard treatment for bowel cancer that has spread to the liver in 2004.

Related Links:
United Kingdom National Cancer Intelligence Network
University of Leeds