Hepatic resection for metastatic cancer.

One-year survival is infrequent in patients with metastatic cancer to the liver. This report includes 21 patients who underwent hepatic resection between 1974 and 1981. Operative procedures included one trisegmentectomy, 12 right hepatic lobectomies, two left hepatic lobectomies, two left lateral segmentectomies, and four wedge resections. Operative morbidity and mortality rates were 43% and 5%, respectively. Life-table analysis revealed an overall 7-year survival rate of 34%. The subset of patients (16) with colorectal adenocarcinoma had a 7-year survival rate of 29% after hepatic resection. In three patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma, frequent CEA determinations were made after surgery in order to calculate the serum half-life of CEA. The data fitted a biexponential function yielding two half-lives for CEA disappearance, 0.8 +/- 0.5 days and 25.9 +/- 10.3 days. We conclude that hepatic resection for isolated hepatic metastases can be performed with acceptable morbidity, low mortality, and prolongation of patient survival.