Growth pattern of colorectal liver metastasis as a marker of recurrence risk

Despite improved therapy of advanced colorectal cancer, the median overall survival (OS) is still low. A surgical removal has significantly improved survival, if lesions are entirely removed. The purpose of this retrospective explorative study was to evaluate the prognostic value of histological growth patterns (GP) in chemonaive and patients receiving neo-adjuvant therapy. Two-hundred-fifty-four patients who underwent liver resection of colorectal liver metastases between 2007 and 2011 were included in the study. Clinicopathological data and information on neo-adjuvant treatment were retrieved from patient and pathology records. Histological GP were evaluated and related to recurrence free and OS. Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank test and Cox regression analysis were used. The 5-year OS was 41.8 % (95 % CI 33.8-49.8 %). Growth pattern evaluation of the largest liver metastasis was possible in 224 cases, with the following distribution: desmoplastic 63 patients (28.1 %); pushing 77 patients (34.4 %); replacement 28 patients (12.5 %); mixed 56 patients (25.0 %). The Kaplan-Meier analyses demonstrated that patients resected for liver metastases with desmoplastic growth pattern had a longer recurrence free survival (RFS) than patients resected for non-desmoplastic liver metastases (p = 0.05). When patients were stratified according to neo-adjuvant treatment in the multivariate Cox regression model, hazard ratios for RFS compared to desmoplastic were: pushing (HR = 1.37, 95 % CI 0.93-2.02, p = 0.116), replacement (HR = 2.16, 95 % CI 1.29-3.62, p = 0.003) and mixed (HR = 1.70, 95 % CI 1.12-2.59, p = 0.013). This was true for chemonaive patients as well as for patients who received neo-adjuvant treatment.