Feasibility of hepatic resection for liver metastasis of head-and-neck carcinoma or esophageal carcinoma: a multi-center experience

• Published in: Surgery Today Vol. 51; no. 12; pp. 1932 - 1937
• Main Authors: Kurihara, Takeshi, Itoh, Shinji, Kimura, Yasue, Oki, Eiji, Yoshizumi, Tomoharu, Matuo, Mioko, Yasumatsu, Ryuji, Sugimachi, Keishi, Morita, Masaru, Kusumoto, Tetsuya, Fukuzawa, Kengo, Yoshida, Naoya, Baba, Hideo, Mori, Masaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Science and Business Media LLC 01.12.2021; Springer Singapore
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - mortality; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - secondary; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - surgery; Esophageal Neoplasms; Esophageal Neoplasms - pathology; Feasibility Studies; Female; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology; Hepatectomy; Humans; Liver; Liver - surgery; Liver Neoplasms; Liver Neoplasms - mortality; Liver Neoplasms - secondary; Liver Neoplasms - surgery; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Article; Retrospective Studies; Surgery; Surgical Oncology; Survival Rate; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Esophageal carcinoma; Squamous cell carcinoma; Liver metastasis; Head-and-neck carcinoma; Hepatic resection
• ISSN: 0941-1291; 1436-2813; 1436-2813
• DOI: 10.1007/s00595-021-02305-6

Purpose Patients with liver metastasis of head-and-neck carcinoma and esophageal carcinoma are generally not treated with hepatic resection, but there are no established standard treatment methods. We report 11 cases of hepatic resection for liver metastasis of head-and-neck carcinoma or esophageal carcinoma performed at 5 Japanese institutions. Methods The subjects of this retrospective analysis were 11 patients who underwent hepatic resection for metastatic liver tumors, originating from head-and-neck carcinoma in 5 and from esophageal cancer in 6, between January, 2010 and March, 2020 Results There were nine men and two women (median age, 64 years; range 40–72 years). The primary disease was esophageal carcinoma in six patients and pharyngeal carcinoma in five patients. All cancers were squamous cell carcinoma. The time from the initial treatment to the diagnosis of liver metastasis was 15.3 months and the 1-year and 3-year overall survival rates after hepatic resection were 72% and 32%, respectively. The overall and disease-free survival rates after hepatic resection were significantly higher for patients who underwent hepatic resection more than 12 months after the initial treatment than for those who underwent hepatic resection within 12 months after the initial treatment ( p  = 0.0172 and p  = 0.0120, respectively). Conclusions Liver resection may prolong the survival of patients with liver metastases controlled for more than 12 months after the initial treatment of head and neck or esophageal carcinoma.