Long-term survival of patients downstaged by oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil combination followed by rescue surgery for unresectable colorectal liver metastases.

Objectives: To evaluate long-term survival of patients resected for primarily unresectable colorectal liver metastases downstaged by systemic chemotherapy.

Methods: Among a group of 82 patients with advanced colorectal cancer, 39 had unresectable liver metastases. After treatment with systemic 3-weekly 5FU/folinic acid/oxaliplatin chemotherapy, the outcome of 11 patients made resectable thanks to chemotherapy was compared to that of 28 patients who were not.