Predictive preoperative clinical score for patients with liver-only oligometastatic colorectal cancer

Resection of liver metastases from colorectal cancer (CRC) in the oligometastatic stage improves survival and is a potentially curative treatment. Thus, predictive scores that reliably identify those patients who especially benefit from surgery are essential.

In this multicenter analysis, 512 patients had undergone surgery for liver metastases from CRC. We investigated distinct cancer-specific risk factors that are routinely available in clinical practice and developed a predictive preoperative score using a training cohort (TC), which was thereafter tested in a validation cohort (VC).

Inflammatory response to the tumor, a right-sided primary tumor, multiple liver metastases, and node-positive primary tumor were significant adverse variables for overall survival (OS). Patients were stratified in five groups according to the cumulative score given by the presence of these risk factors. Median OS for patients without risk factors was 133.8 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 81.2-not reached (nr)] in the TC and was not reached in the VC. OS decreased significantly for each subsequent group with increasing number of risk factors. Median OS was significantly shorter (P < 0.0001) for patients presenting all four risk factors: 14.3 months (95% CI 10.5 months-nr) in the TC and 16.6 months (95% CI 14.6 months-nr) in the VC.

Including easily obtainable variables, this preoperative score identifies oligometastatic CRC patients with prolonged survival rates that may be cured, and harbors potential to be implemented in daily clinical practice.