Background: Limited data describe the therapeutic practice and outcomes of colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs) in elderly patients. We aimed to evaluate the impact of age on multidisciplinary treatment for CRLMs.
Methods: We reviewed treatment and outcomes for patients in different age groups who underwent initial hepatectomy for CRLMs from 2004 through 2012.
Results: We studied 462 patients who were divided into three groups by age: ≤ 64 years (n = 265), 65-74 years (n = 151), and ≥ 75 years (n = 46). The rate of major hepatectomy and incidence of postoperative complications did not differ between groups. Adjuvant chemotherapy was used less in the ≥ 75-year group (19.6%) than that in the ≤ 64 (54.3%) or 65-74 age group (43.5%). Repeat hepatectomy for liver recurrence was performed less in the ≥ 75-year group (35%) than in the ≤ 64 (57%) or 65-74 (66%) age group. The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) rate of 44.2% in the ≥ 75-year group was lower than in the ≤ 64 (59.0%) or 65-74 (64.7%) age group. Multivariate analysis revealed age ≥ 75 years was an independent predictor of poor DSS.
Conclusions: Liver resection for CRLMs can be performed safely in elderly patients. However, repeat resection for recurrence are performed less frequently in the elderly, which may lead to the poorer disease-specific prognosis.
Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Elderly; Hepatectomy.