Abstract

Background

After resection of colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRLM), 2 main histopathological growth patterns can be observed: a desmoplastic and a nondesmoplastic subtype. The desmoplastic subtype has been associated with superior survival. These findings require external validation.

Methods

An international multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted in patients treated surgically for CRLM at 3 tertiary hospitals in the United States and the Netherlands. Determination of histopathological growth patterns was performed on hematoxylin and eosin–stained sections of resected CRLM according to international guidelines. Patients displaying a desmoplastic histopathological phenotype (only desmoplastic growth observed) were compared with patients with a nondesmoplastic phenotype (any nondesmoplastic growth observed). Cutoff analyses on the extent of nondesmoplastic growth were performed. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier and multivariable Cox analysis. All statistical tests were 2-sided.

Results

In total 780 patients were eligible. A desmoplastic phenotype was observed in 19.1% and was associated with microsatellite instability (14.6% vs 3.6%, P = .01). Desmoplastic patients had superior 5-year OS (73.4%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 64.1% to 84.0% vs 44.2%, 95% CI = 38.9% to 50.2%, P < .001) and DFS (32.0%, 95% CI = 22.9% to 44.7% vs 14.7%, 95% CI = 11.7% to 18.6%, P < .001) compared with their nondesmoplastic counterparts. A desmoplastic phenotype was associated with an adjusted hazard ratio for death of 0.36 (95% CI = 0.23 to 0.58) and 0.50 (95% CI = 0.37 to 0.66) for cancer recurrence. Prognosis was independent of KRAS and BRAF status. The cutoff analyses found no prognostic relationship between either OS or DFS and the extent of nondesmoplastic growth observed (all P > .1).

Conclusions

This external validation study confirms the remarkably good prognosis after surgery for CRLM in patients with a desmoplastic phenotype. The extent of nondesmoplastic growth does not affect prognosis.

Details

Title
Histopathological Growth Patterns and Survival After Resection of Colorectal Liver Metastasis: An External Validation Study
Author
Höppener, Diederik J 1 ; Galjart, Boris 1 ; Nierop, Pieter M H 1 ; Buisman, Florian E 1 ; Eric P van der Stok 1 ; Robert R J Coebergh van den Braak 1 ; van Amerongen, Martin J 2 ; Balachandran, Vinod P 3 ; Jarnagin, William R 3 ; Kingham, T Peter 3 ; Doukas, Michail 4 ; Shia, Jinru 5 ; Nagtegaal, Iris D 6 ; Vermeulen, Peter B 7 ; Bas Groot Koerkamp 8 ; Grünhagen, Dirk J 1 ; Johannes H W de Wilt 9 ; Michael I D’Angelica 3 ; Verhoef, Cornelis 1 

 Department of Surgical Oncology and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands 
 Department of Radiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands 
 Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA 
 Department of Pathology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands 
 Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA 
 Department of Pathology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands 
 Translational Cancer Research Unit (GZA Hospitals and University of Antwerp), Antwerp, Belgium 
 Department of Surgery, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands 
 Department of Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Jun 2021
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
25155091
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3170597549
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.