Liver Surgery for Colorectal Metastases: Results after 10 Years of Follow-Up. Long-Term Survivors, Late Recurrences, and Prognostic Role of Morbidity

Background Liver surgery is the gold-standard treatment of colorectal liver metastases. Five-year survival rates may be inadequate to evaluate surgical outcomes because some patients are alive with recurrence and late recurrences are possible. The aim of this study was to analyze 10-year survival outcome in terms of late recurrence rate and prognostic factors of survival. Methods One hundred twenty-five patients underwent liver resection for colorectal liver metastases between 1985 and 1996. Four patients who experienced postoperative mortality were excluded. The analysis was performed on 121 patients. Results Five- and 10-year survival rates were 23.1% and 15.7%, respectively. Nineteen patients were alive 10 years after liver resection and 17 were disease-free (5 after re-resection). Five- and 10-year disease-free survival rates were 17.4% and 14.8%, respectively. In patients with recurrence, re-resection significantly improved survival ( P 3 metastases ( P