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Updated: May 24, 2025
Advanced Animal Model of Colorectal Metastasis in Liver: Imaging Techniques and Properties of Metastatic Clones
Published on: November 30, 2016
Association Between Colorectal Cancer Primary Features and Liver Metastases Histological Growth Patterns:
Ana Margarida Abrantes1, Rui Caetano-Oliveira2, Bárbara Oliveiros3
1Biophysics Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR) Area of Environment, Genetics and Oncobiology (CIMAGO), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Coimbra Centor Académico e Clínico (CACC), Coimbra, Portugal.
Background:
More than 50% of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC) will develop liver metastases (CRCLM), which is the main cause of death for more than 60% of these patients. The aim of this study was to correlate the clinical and pathological characteristics of the primary CRC and CRCLM, with emphasis in predicting the histological growth pattern of the CRCLM.
Methods:
Cohort of 73 patients with CRC. Analysis of clinical data and blinded pathological review was performed related with primary tumor and CRCLM features. The analysis was performed in SPSS (version 27) with a significance level of 5%.
Results:
A statistically significant association was found between tumor size and metastasis growth pattern (P = .002), with larger tumors giving rise to metastases with a nondesmoplastic growth pattern. Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) was associated with metachronous CRCLM (P = .043). In the absence of LVI, the time required for CRCLM to appear was significantly longer (P = .011). The number of metastases was significantly higher (P = .049) in tumors without LVI when compared to tumors with LVI. There was a statistically significant association between CRC high-grade inflammation and the desmoplastic metastases growth pattern of the CRCLM (P = .017).
Conclusion:
The possibility of predicting the CRCLM histological growth pattern resorting to primary CRC characteristics would be useful for proper patient selection for surgery and adapting biological therapies.
