Liver metastases of colorectal cancer: medical treatments.

Colorectal adenocarcinoma ranks second as a cause of death due to cancer in the Western world. Liver metastases form the main cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer. Already at the time of the primary tumor, 15-25% of the patients present with liver metastases, while another 20% will develop these metastases following treatment of the colorectal primary. Without any treatment the median survival after the detection of liver metastases is approximately 9 months, depending on the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis. This paper examines the factors pertinent to clinical trial designed for metastic colorectal cancer and reviews the existing data supporting adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy for potentially resectable disease and chemotherapy in the inoperable disease.