Liver, lung and peritoneal metastases in colorectal cancers: is the patient still curable? What should the radiologist know

Abstract

Regardless of the advances in chemotherapy, the only curative treatment for colorectal metastases is surgery, which must be complete and excise all of the metastatic sites of disease. Thanks to advances in neoadjuvant chemotherapy and also to alternative techniques, such as radiofrequency ablation, however, surgical treatments have become available to a larger number of patients and have improved patient survival. The aim of this article is to describe the different treatment strategies for colorectal metastases and to examine the role of imaging in defining the resect ability of these metastases. The key factors in the radiological report in the initial and post-chemotherapy assessments are described.

Keywords: Colorectal metastases; Liver; Oncology; Peritoneum; Tumor excision.