[Current status of multimodal therapy for colorectal liver metastases]

Surgical resection is the only chance of cure for patients with colorectal liver metastases und significantly improves patient survival. The percentage of patients who can undergo curative resection as well as the survival after liver resection can be increased by using modern multimodal treatment algorithms. This has been achieved by not only innovations in pre- and postoperative chemotherapy but also by new surgical and interventional techniques and last but not least by individualisation of chemotherapeutic regimens. Due to the high number of new treatment modalities, a generally accepted treatment algorithm cannot be provided so far for all subgroups of the inhomogeneous group of patients with colorectal liver metastases. In the present review the current status of multimodal therapy is outlined and the pending questions mentioned.