Comparison of Mortality Rates in Patients Waiting for Liver Transplant and Patients With Colorectal Metastatic Tumors

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to identify outcomes of liver surgery in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal cancer, which result in primary and secondary liver tumors. Materials and Methods: Our study included 51 patients with colorectal cancer and liver metastases and 63 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who were prepared for liver transplant due to cirrhosis who underwent hepatic resection or local ablation treatments; patients were seen between January 2011 and December 2021. Results: Most patients with colorectal cancer were men (58.8%). Mean age was 65.76 +/- 13.818 years (range, 27-88 y). Most patients had planned, elective surgery (86.3%). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 58.8% of patients. The most common location of metastasis in the liver was in the right lobe (43.1%), and the most common surgery was low anterior resection (17 patients). During simultaneous liver surgery, 31 patients required metastasectomy and 7 patients required radiofrequency ablation plus metastasectomy. No deaths occurred in the early posttransplant period, and cumulative survival was 82.624 +/- 7.962 months. Disease-free survival was 45.2 +/- 7.495 months. Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were men (82.5%). Mean age was 58.73 +/- 17.428 years. Hepatocellular carcinoma lesions were mostly located in both the right and left lobes (23.8%). In the hepatocellular cancer group, 60.3% had transarterial chemoembolization and 42.9% had radiofrequency ablation. The primary surgical resection was metastasectomy (17.9%) because of multiple localized lesions. Median follow-up was 22 months (range, 1-126 mo). Overall survival was 101.898 +/- 7.169 months, with 10-year overall survival of 38%. Disease-free survival was 74.081 +/- 8.732 months, with 1-year and 5-year disease-free survival of 90.5% and 54%. Conclusions: Better survival was shown in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma than in patients with colorectal cancer. Therefore, more aggressive treatment options, as used in hepatocellular carcinoma, including liver transplant, may be options for patients with colorectal cancer.