The present study was performed to assess survival benefits in patients who underwent a hepatic resection for isolated bilobar
liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Thirty-eight patients underwent a curative hepatic resection for isolated colorectal
liver metastasis. Among them, 11 patients had bilobar liver metastases and 19 had a solitary metastasis. The remaining 8 patients
had unilobar multiple lesions. We investigated survival in two groups those with bilobar and those with solitary metastatic
tumors. Survival and disease-free survival were 36% and 18% at 5 years, respectively, in the patients with bilobar liver metastases,
while these survivals were 43% and 34% in the patients with solitary liver metastasis. In the 38 patients, repeated hepatic
resections were performed in 15 patients with recurrent liver disease. The 5-year survival and disease-free survival rates
for these patients were 38% and 27%, respectively, after the second hepatic resections. Of the 11 patients with bilobar liver
metastases, 5 underwent a repeated hepatic resection, and they all survived for over 42 months. Based on our observations,
a hepatic resection was thus found to be effective even in selected patients with either bilobar nodules or recurrence in
the remnant liver.
Key words Bilobar liver metastasis - Colorectal cancer - Hepatic resection
Received: February 7, 2000 / Accepted: April 26, 2000