Metastases of gastric cancer into the liver – the authors’ own experience and literature review

Introduction. Synchronous metastases of gastric cancer to the liver occur in 3–14% of patients with this cancer, and metachronous lesions in 37% of patients after radical gastrectomy. Liver resections due to metastases of gastric carcinomas represent only 5–9% of resections due to metastases other than colorectal cancer. Until recently, patients with gastric carcinoma metastases to the liver were classified in the IV stage of cancer and the therapy was limited to chemotherapy or palliative treatment only. Material and methods. The paper presents a current review of literature and the authors’ own experience with liver resection due to gastric cancer metastases into this organ. During 34 months, 488 patients with liver metastases were treated in the Department of General, Transplant and Liver Surgery, of the Medical University of Warsaw, in whom 426 surgical procedures were performed (87.3%). The types of surgical procedures are as follows: minor liver resections in 204 patients (47.9%), hemihepatectomies in 102 patients (23.9%), thermoablations in 86 patients (20.2%) and laparotomies in 34 patients (8.0%). Among patients treated for liver metastases there were 4 patients with metastases from gastric cancer (0.8%), which constituted 1% of patients operated on, but 6.8% of patients with liver metastases from organs other than colorectal cancer. The postoperative course and direct results in all patients operated because of gastric cancer metastases into the liver were very good. Conclusions. In some patients (single metachronous metastasis, no extrahepatic lesions, no peritoneal lesions, with subsequent chemotherapy) liver resection due to metastases from gastric cancer provides a chance for a longer survival.