Background: It is unclear how early liver recurrence negatively affects survival in patients undergoing surgery for colorectal liver metastases (CLM) and whether to perform re-hepatectomy for early recurrence is still controversial. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of re-hepatectomy for early recurrence of CLM.
Methods: We reviewed 634 patients undergoing initial hepatectomy for CLM between 2004 and 2015. In 131 patients (20.7%), liver recurrence occurred within 6 months after surgery (early recurrence group [ER]). Recurrence pattern and survivals of ER were compared with those of 150 patients (23.7%) who had liver recurrence more than 6 months after surgery (late recurrence group [LR]). Re-hepatectomy was indicated for resectable disease regardless of the timing of recurrence without using preoperative chemotherapy.
Results: The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates after initial hepatectomy in ER (24.0%) were worse than those in LR (57.7%, p < 0.01). Although the incidence of concomitant extrahepatic recurrence was not different between ER and LR, the rate of re-hepatectomy for recurrence confined to the liver in ER (72.5% [58/80]) was lower than that in LR (88.9% [96/108], p < 0.01). In ER, re-hepatectomy was found to independently improve survival (HR: 6.479, p < 0.01), offering the 5-year OS rate after re-hepatectomy of 45.2%. The sites and timing of re-recurrence after re-hepatectomy were not different between ER and LR.
Conclusions: Impaired survival of early liver recurrence is attributed to extensive liver recurrence. However, re-hepatectomy indicated based on resectability is associated with improved survival in patients with early recurrence, tempering the re-recurrence mode.