LiverMetSurvey Registry: the Italian Experience

Abstract

LiverMetSurvey (www.livermetsurvey.org) is an international registry of patients who have undergone surgery for colorectal liver metastases. It aims to analyze prospectively, on a large scale, the results of surgically treated patients, with the broader goal of establishing guidelines of optimal treatment and therapeutic strategy, especially in clinical situations that remain controversial regarding the benefit of surgery or its combination with other therapies. All patients who have undergone resection of hepatic metastasis of colorectal origin, whether the hepatectomy was actually performed or canceled during the operation (intention-to-treat), are included. As of December 2009, more than 11,000 patients have been registered worldwide. In this chapter, data from Italian centers participating in LiverMetSurvey are analyzed in order to illustrate the outcomes of surgical treatment of colorectal liver metastases in our country. Furthermore, the Italian data are compared with those of the LiverMetSurvey series such that treatment quality in Italy can be compared to international standards.