Surgical management of hepatic metastases from large bowel cancer

Hepatic resection is the only treatment that offers chances for cure in patients with hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer. However, even if some patients are still alive and disease-free 5 years after hepatic resection, most do not benefit from surgery due to early recurrences. Reliable selection criteria would be very useful for detecting before surgery the patients who can benefit from resection and for avoiding unprofitable resection or laparotomy in others.