Timing Means Everything, Maybe

Excerpt

Many patients with colorectal cancer will have liver metastases at the time of their initial diagnosis (synchronous) or will develop liver metastases at some point after undergoing potentially curative therapy for their primary disease (metachronous). For a large proportion of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, whether synchronous or metachronous, the metastases will be restricted to the liver. A number of questions exist on how best to care for patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer. These include the role and timing of chemotherapy, as well as the role and timing of surgery. To date, much of what we have learned about the appropriate care of patients with liver metastases has come from retrospective summaries of institutional experience. However, a small but growing number of clinical trials exist. …