[Treatment of colorectal liver metastases: a current view]

The Czech Republic has the world's highest incidence of colorectal cancer, with over 4,500 people dying of this disease each year. It is a well-known fact that up to 50% of patients develop distant metastases.

While thanks to novel drugs and the emergence of biological therapy, chemotherapy has been most successful in prolonging patient survival, a complete cure is impossible. Consequently, surgical treatment continues to be the only option potentially capable of achieving complete cure. Advances in surgical management, primarily in reducing morbidity and mortality rates after liver resection, have made it possible to perform surgery on a higher number of patients. Despite this, a large proportion of patients remain in fact primarily inoperable because of the extent of their disease. A combination of individualized surgical and cancer therapy developed by a multidisciplinary team substantially increases the number of patients eligible for radical resection, thus not only improving overall five-year survival rates but, also, significantly extending the symptom-free period.

The aim of the paper is to summarize a new perspective of the strategy for treating liver metastases of colorectal cancer and to develop guidelines for new appropriate algorithms.