Colorectal liver metastases: global trends in epidemiology, modern opportunities for treatment

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According to the literature, the review presents global trends in the epidemiology of colorectal cancer and the state-of-the-art in the treatment of patients with colorectal liver metastases. It describes conventional and current treatments, including cytoreductive (resection) surgery, minimally invasive procedures for local destruction (radiofrequency thermal ablation, microwave ablation, cryoablation), stereotactic radiotherapy, radiosurgery, targeted therapy, and X-ray endovascular methods (chemoinfusion, chemoembolization, and radioembolization). It is postulated that the search for new chemotherapeutic and targeted drugs can contribute to the improvement of treatment results in patients with potentially resectable colorectal liver metastases. The possibilities and prospects of liver transplantation as an absolute alternative to the existing methods of treatment for patients with unresectable multiple bilobar colorectal metastases are highlighted. The data available in the lit erature on the use of liver transplantation in this category of patients indicate the undeniable advantages of the method. The prospects for the treatment of patients with unresectable multiple bilobar colorectal liver metastases are clearly planned multicenter randomized trials of liver transplantation. There is reason to believe that the results of the ongoing studies and their meta-analysis will be able to develop an international consensus on this issue and a unified global strategy for the treatment of this severe category of patients in the foreseeable future.

Keywords:

colorectal cancer

liver metastases

unresectable multiple bilobar metastases

minimally invasive methods of local treatment

liver transplantation

Authors:

Aliev S.A.

Azerbaijan Medical University

Aliev E.S.

Azerbaijan Medical University

Received:

10.03.2021

Accepted:

18.03.2021

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