Multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with potentially resectable colorectal cancer liver metastasis: results of a multicenter study

Background: This study sought to review colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM) patients at multiple centers to analyze the factors affecting the success of conversion therapy in patients whose CRLM was initially evaluated as potentially resectable, to explore the effect of different treatment approaches on patient survival, and to provide a scientific reference for dinical treatment of CRLM. Methods: Fifty patients whose CRLM was initially evaluated as potentially resectable at 3 large Chinese general hospitals were enrolled in this retrospective study. Statistical analyses were carried out on the general data and pathological characteristic data to examine the clinical efficacy of the treatment approaches. The factors affecting the success of conversion therapy were analyzed by logistic regression. Additionally, followup appointments were conducted to examine survival, and survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier estimator. The effect of different clinical and pathological characteristics on CRLM patients was analyzed. Results: Seventeen patients achieved no evidence of disease (NED) status through surgical resection/ablation after undergoing conversion therapy. The multifactor analysis demonstrated that the number of liver metastases was the primary risk factor affecting the efficacy of conversion therapy (P<0.05). Survival analysis results showed statistically significant difference in overall survival (OS) between the NED group and the inconspicuous/progressive group (P<0.0001). Also, there was a statistically significant difference in the progression-free survival (PFS) between the NED group and the inconspicuous/progressive group (P<0.0001). Patients in the surgical resection group had better OS and PFS than those in the ablation group (P<0.0001 and P<0.01, respectively). The monofactor analysis demonstrated that the number and maximum diameter of liver metastases, serum Carcino-Embryonic Antigen (CEA) level, and BRAF V600E mutation status were factors affecting the OS of CRLM patients (P<0.05), of which BRAF V600E mutation was the primary determinant (P<0.05). Conclusions: Among the patients whose CRLM was initially evaluated as unresectable, those who underwent surgical resection of the primary lesions and liver metastases after receiving conversion therapy had the best prognosis. Thus, a thorough evaluation should be conducted to determine the effect of and survival factors affecting conversion therapy in the treatment of liver metastases.