Survival after hepatic resection for malignant tumours

A retrospective analysis of 194 patients who underwent hepatic resection for primary or metastatic malignant disease from January 1962 to December 1988 was undertaken to determine variables that might aid the selection of patients for hepatic resection. Hepatic metastases were the indication for resection in 126 patients. The 5-year survival rate was 17 per cent. For patients with resected metastases from colorectal cancer (n = 104), the survival rate at 5 years was 18 per cent. The 5-year survival rate was 27 per cent when the resection margin was > 5 mm compared with 9 per cent when the margin was < or = 5 mm (P < 0.01). No patient with extrahepatic invasion, lymphatic spread, involvement of the resection margin or gross residual disease survived to 5 years, compared with a 23 per cent 5-year survival rate for patients undergoing curative resection (P < 0.02). The survival rate of patients with poorly differentiated primary tumours was nil at 3 years compared with a 20 per cent 5-year survival rate for patients with well or moderately differentiated tumours (P not significant). The site and Dukes' classification of the primary tumour, the sex and preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level of the patient, and the number and size of hepatic metastases did not affect the prognosis. The 5-year survival rate for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 42) was 25 per cent. An improved survival rate was found for patients whose alpha-fetoprotein level was normal (37 per cent at 5 years) compared with those having a raised level (nil at 3 years) (P < 0.01). Involvement of the resection margin, extrahepatic spread and spread to regional lymph nodes were associated with an 8 per cent 5-year survival rate versus 44 per cent for curative resection (P < 0.005). The presence of cirrhosis, the presence of symptoms, and the multiplicity and size of the tumour did not affect the prognosis. The 5-year survival rate of 11 patients with hepatic sarcoma was 25 per cent. No patient with peripheral cholangiocarcinoma survived to 1 year in contrast to patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma, all four of whom survived for more than 14 months.