What factors influence survival in patients with unresected synchronous liver metastases after resection of colorectal cancer?

The aim of this study was to determine whether the survival of patients with untreated synchronous liver metastases after resection of a colorectal cancer was associated with any features of the primary tumour.Information for 398 consecutive patients with unresected liver metastases in the period 1971-2001 was examined by multivariate survival analysis.Of 19 clinical and pathological variables considered, survival was independently associated only with residual tumour in a line of resection (hazard ratio (HR) 1.95), venous invasion (HR 1.87), right colonic tumour (HR 1.68), lymph node metastasis (HR 1.54), and extra-hepatic metastasis (HR 1.16); 8.3% of patients had none of these adverse features. Their 2-year overall survival rate was 39.2%, compared with only 16.5% (P < 0.001) in those with one or more adverse features.These findings may assist in selecting patients most likely to benefit from treatment of hepatic metastases and in counselling patients and their relatives.