Abstracts
2000 Digestive Disease Week

# 2281 Repeat Hepatic Cryotherapy for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.
Mathew H. Chung, Kenneth Ramming, Anton J. Bilchik, Century City, CA, Santa Monica, CA

The authors evaluated the utility of repeat hepatic cryotherapy for recurrent, unresectable colorectal metastases in the liver. Between 1992 and 1999, 195 patients with unresectable hepatic lesions underwent cryotherapy. Fourteen patients (median age 60) underwent repeat cryotherapy for recurrences in the liver. 86% of the patients had Duke’s stage D at initial diagnosis. The median number of hepatic metastases was three at the first cryotherapy and two at the second cryotherapy. At a median follow up of 71 months, mean duration of survival from original diagnosis/first cryotherapy/ second cryotherapy was 53/42/19 months. Seven patients died of their disease (50%), four patients were alive with disease (29%) and three had no evidence of disease (21%). The mean interval between the first and second cryotherapies was 23 months. The complication rates after the first and second cryotherapies were 6% and 14%, respectively. One patient had wound dehiscence following the first cryotherapy. After the second cryotherapy, one patient had a small bowel obstruction while another had a symptomatic pleural effusion. There was no perioperative mortality. Repeat hepatic cryotherapy for recurrent, unresectable colorectal metastases is safe, improves survival, and can be curative.