Intraoperative margin re-resection for colorectal liver metastases.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate recurrence and survival in patients who underwent intraoperative margin re-resection for colorectal cancer liver (CRC) metastases. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis. SETTING: University Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Cohort of 118 patients who underwent resection of CRC liver metastases between 1992 and 2004. All patients were divided into 3 groups resection margin (MOR) less than 1 cm (n = 64), MOR greater than 1 cm (n = 33), and re-resection margin (re-MOR) greater than 1 cm (n = 21). RESULTS: Patients with a margin greater than 1 cm, when compared with re-MOR greater than 1 had decreased incidence of liver and distant recurrence (p < 0.05) as well as improved disease-free survival (39.2 vs 22.9 months, p = 0.023). Differences in overall survival (58.6 vs 44.2 months, p = 0.14) were not significant. CONCLUSION: Intraoperative re-resection is associated with an increased risk of local and distant recurrence, which may be a reflection of both inadequate surgery and underlying tumor biology.