Abstract

Hepatic metastases represent one of major clinical problems in patients affected by solid tumours because liver is the first site of metastatic disease after lymph nodes, (1, 2). The most common origins among adults are from colon and rectum cancer followed by pancreas (adenocarcinoma or neuroendocrine), lung and breast (3-7). It is estimated that in 15-20% of patients affected by adenocarcinoma of colon-rectum liver metastases are present at the time of diagnosis (8-11), while in 40% of cases they will develop during the follow-up (10, 11). Liver metastases are the first determinant for survival (1, 3, 12-17), and both hepatic and extrahepatic involvement have a statistical significant impact on it (3, 14, 18-21). Prognosis of patients affected by untreated disease is very poor, being 5 to 14 months with rare 2-year survivors and a 5-year survival rate of 0% (10, 21-24). In half of all patients affected by colorectal cancer and undergoing to a radical surgery, disease will fail in the liver (8, 25-28); among patients dying for colorectal cancer, 60-70% have a liver involvement (9, 29), and in 20-25% liver is the only site of recurrence and death results from liver failure (3, 29-31). In Autoptic studies those rates increased up to 83% and 38% respectively (1, 10, 17, 32).