The Issue of Survival After Colorectal Liver Metastasis Surgery: Parenchyma Sparing vs. Radicality.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Nowadays, obtaining optimal surgical margin of the resected metastasis and the parenchyma- sparing surgical technique are a great challenge for hepatic surgeons. The aim of this follow-up study was to investigate the prognostic value of the surgical margin and the parenchyma- sparing liver resection technique. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of the data of 319 patients [123 (36.6%) female and 196 (61.4%) male] who had colorectal cancer and underwent surgery to treat colorectal liver metastases in our Department between 2005 and 2014. RESULTS: The most commonly used resection type was the non-anatomic resection (43%). Multivariate analysis indicated that there was no significant difference in survival (p=0.473) between the microscopically-negative (R0) and microscopically-positive (R1) resections, as well as between the resection types (p=0.257). CONCLUSION: Parenchymal-sparing non-anatomic resection and spray diathermy on the resection surface of the liver should be applied not only for hemostasis, but also to destroy the area containing possible tumor cells after an R1 resection and not to have worse survival outcomes.

Steroid withdrawal at 3 months after kidney transplantation: a comparison of two tacrolimus-based regimens.

The 6 month prospective, randomized study compared the steroid-sparing potential of two tacrolimus-based regimens after renal transplantation. A total of 489 patients were randomized (1:1) to receive tacrolimus/mycophenolate mofetil (MMF)/steroids (n = 243; group Tac/MMF/S) or tacrolimus/azathioprine/steroids (n = 246; group Tac/Aza/S). At 3 months, steroids were tapered off in 267 (54.6%) patients free from steroid-resistant acute rejection and with serum creatinine concentrations <160 micromol/l. The incidence of biopsy-confirmed acute rejection at month 3 was lower in group Tac/MMF/S compared with group Tac/Aza/S (18.1% vs. 26.0%,P = 0.035). Moreover, more patients in the Tac/MMF/S group met the criteria for steroid withdrawal than in the Tac/Aza/S group (60.5% vs. 48.8%; P < 0.01). The incidence of acute rejection during months 4-6 was low in all groups, both for patients on steroid-free dual therapy (Tac/MMF: 2.7%, Tac/Aza: 0.8%) and for patients who continued steroid maintenance therapy (Tac/MMF/S: 3.5%, Tac/Aza/S: 7.1%). Moreover, kidney function was well preserved in steroid-free patients with month 6 median serum creatinine levels of 119.5 micromol/l (Tac/MMF), and 115.1 micromol/l (Tac/Aza). For patients who continued to receive steroids, month 6 median creatinine levels were 130.5 micromol/l (Tac/MMF/S) and 132.8 micromol/l (Tac/Aza/S). The criteria for the selection of patients to discontinue steroids were adequate. Both tacrolimus-based regimens allowed the safe discontinuation of steroids in low-risk patients at month 3. The Tac/MMF combination was superior in the prevention of acute rejections and more patients met the chosen criteria for steroid withdrawal.