Preoperative staging with computerized axial tomography and biochemical laboratory tests in patients with hepatic metastases.

Preoperative biochemical liver function tests and computerized axial tomographic (CAT) scans were performed on 100 patients as part of a prospective randomized study of treatments for liver metastases from colorectal cancer. The CAT scans reliably reflected the presence of disease in most patients but only accurately demonstrated the number and location of metastases in 43% of the patients. Extrahepatic metastases were present in 35 patients but were only seen on the CAT scans in three of these patients.

Results of a prospective randomized trial of continuous regional chemotherapy and hepatic resection as treatment of hepatic metastases from colorectal primaries.

One hundred patients were entered on a randomized prospective protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of hepatic resection of single as well as multiple hepatic metastases from colorectal primaries in combination with continuous hepatic artery infusion (CHAI) of fluorodeoxyuridine (FUDR) via the implantable pump (Infusaid, Intermedics Infusaid Inc., Norwood, MA). The eight patients with single metastases were randomized to hepatic resection alone (three patients) or hepatic resection plus CHAI (five patients).