Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Feb 18, 2017; 9(5): 242-251
Published online Feb 18, 2017. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v9.i5.242
Role of surgical resection for non-colorectal non-neuroendocrine liver metastases
Nobuyuki Takemura, Akio Saiura
Nobuyuki Takemura, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, JR Tokyo General Hospital, Tokyo 151-8528, Japan
Nobuyuki Takemura, Akio Saiura, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Cancer Institute Ariake Hospital, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo 151-8528, Japan
Author contributions: Takemura N analyzed the literatures and wrote the manuscript; Saiura A reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare in relation to the contents of this review.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Nobuyuki Takemura, MD, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, JR Tokyo General Hospital, 2-1-3, Yoyogi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-8528, Japan. takemuranobu-tky@umin.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-3-33202200 Fax: +81-3-33707477
Received: August 30, 2016
Peer-review started: September 1, 2016
First decision: September 29, 2016
Revised: October 29, 2016
Accepted: December 7, 2016
Article in press: December 9, 2016
Published online: February 18, 2017
Processing time: 172 Days and 6.8 Hours
Abstract

It is widely accepted that the indications for hepatectomy in colorectal cancer liver metastases and liver metastases of neuro-endocrine tumors result in relatively better prognoses, whereas, the indications and prognoses of hepatectomy for non-colorectal non-neuroendocrine liver metastases (NCNNLM) remain controversial owing to the limited number of cases and the heterogeneity of the primary diseases. There have been many publications on NCNNLM; however, its background heterogeneity makes it difficult to reach a specific conclusion. This heterogeneous disease group should be discussed in the order from its general to specific aspect. The present review paper describes the general prognosis and risk factors associated with NCNNLM while specifically focusing on the liver metastases of each primary disease. A multidisciplinary approach that takes into consideration appropriate timing for hepatectomy combined with chemotherapy may prolong survival and/or contribute to the improvement of the quality of life while giving respite from systemic chemotherapy.

Keywords: Non-colorectal non-neuroendocrine liver metastasis; Metastatic liver tumor; Hepatectomy; Gastric cancer liver metastasis; Gastrointestinal stromal tumor liver metastasis; Breast cancer liver metastasis; Melanoma liver metastasis; Sarcoma liver metastasis; Renal cell carcinoma liver metastasis; Ovarian cancer liver metastasis

Core tip: Previous studies reported that the results of hepatectomy for non-colorectal, non-neuroendocrine liver metastasis (NCNNLM) showed an acceptable prognosis in the heterogeneous disease group. However, considering the indication of hepatectomy for NCNNLM, it is important to define the features of each primary disease. The present review paper describes the general prognosis and risk factors associated with NCNNLM, specifically focuses on liver metastasis associated with each primary disease. A multidisciplinary approach that takes appropriate timing for hepatectomy combined with chemotherapy into consideration may prolong survival and/or contribute to the improvement of the quality of life, while taking time off from systemic chemotherapy.