Effect of age on the development of chemotherapy-associated liver injury in colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

With the prolongation of the mean lifespan, the number of elderly individuals undergoing liver resection for colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM) following chemotherapy has increased. However, the effect of age on the development of chemotherapy-associated liver injury (CALI) in CRLM remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effect of age on the development of CALI in CRLM. A total of 64 patients undergoing liver resection for CRLM following oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy (OBC) were investigated. The patients were divided into three groups (group A: <65 years, group B: 65-74 years and group C: >75 years) according to age at surgery, and the development rate of CALI was compared between the groups. The patients underwent pathological assessments to determine the degree of histopathological injury of the non-cancerous liver parenchyma. Group A included 37 cases, group B 17 cases and group C 10 cases. There were no significant differences among the groups regarding the number of OBC cycles and duration of OBC cessation. Sinusoidal injury was observed in 27.0, 29.4 and 30.0% of the cases in groups A, B and C, respectively; the differences were not statistically significant (P=0.479). Steatohepatitis was observed in 35.1, 35.3 and 40.0% of the cases in groups A, B and C, respectively; the differences were not statistically significant (P=0.958). There was no significant correlation between age and sinusoidal pathological score (r=-0.102, P=0.423) or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease activity score (r≤0.001, P=0.997). Therefore, the development of CALI following OBC treatment in CRLM was not found to differ by age.