Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Feb 10, 2016; 7(1): 9-14
Published online Feb 10, 2016. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v7.i1.9
Current treatment options for patients with initially unresectable isolated colorectal liver metastases
Ozkan Kanat
Ozkan Kanat, Department of Medical Oncology, Uludag University Faculty of Medicine, 16059 Bursa, Turkey
Author contributions: Kanat O solely contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author has no financial disclosure or conflict of interest.
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: Ozkan Kanat, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Uludag University Faculty of Medicine, Gorukle, 16059 Bursa, Turkey. ozkanat@uludag.edu.tr
Telephone: +90-22-42951321
Received: June 9, 2015
Peer-review started: June 14, 2015
First decision: September 17, 2015
Revised: October 2, 2015
Accepted: December 1, 2015
Article in press: December 2, 2015
Published online: February 10, 2016
Processing time: 235 Days and 2.9 Hours
Abstract

The development of liver metastases is a common clinical entity in the clinical course of colorectal cancer. For patients with isolated liver involvement, surgical resection is the only treatment that can provide a chance of prolonged survival and cure. However, most of these patients are not initially eligible for the surgery. Selected patients with initially considered to have unresectable disease may become resectable after systemic (chemotherapy ± biological therapy) and loco-regional treatment modalities including hepatic arterial infusion. Patients who have colorectal liver metastases ideally should be referred to a multidisciplinary cancer care team in order to identify the most optimal management approach.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Conversion therapy; Liver metastases; Targeted therapy; Hepatic arterial infusion

Core tip: A subset of patients presenting with unresectable colorectal liver metastases (CLM) patients may become eligible for resection following systemic (chemotherapy ± biological therapy) and loco-regional treatments, including hepatic arterial infusion. After successful complete (R0) resection of liver lesions, these patients can achieve long-term survival. Therefore, all patients with CLM should be discussed in a multidisciplinary team meeting to identify appropriate treatment options.