Liver Cancer Recurrence Common in Colon Cancer

Twenty percent of those with colon cancer will develop liver metastases.  Liver surgery is often performed to treat the liver metastases.  The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine just released results of a study they performed.  This is the first study to evaluate the recurrence of cancer in those people who had colon cancer with liver metastases and then had resection to treat the liver metastases.  They found that 56.7% of those who had liver resection will have a recurrence of cancer; and that 25% will have a recurrence of cancer in the pelvis, usually in the liver. Some of the patients who had recurrent cancer in the liver after resection underwent resection of the liver a second time with curative intent.  The survival rate for these patients was 77% (3 year) and 39% (5 year).  These findings show that surgery for hepatic recurrence is beneficial.

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