Response to preoperative chemotherapy: impact of change in total burden score and mutational tumor status on prognosis of patients undergoing resection for colorectal liver metastases

Background: Progression of colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) on preoperative chemotherapy has been associated with a worse prognosis compared with patients who have responsive disease. Defining response can be challenging as traditional criteria largely assess only tumor size. Methods: Patients who underwent hepatectomy between 2010 and 2017 were identified using a multi-centric database. This study aimed to define the impact of preoperative chemotherapy response relative to initial tumor burden score (TBS) and determine impact of clinico-pathological variables on overall survival (OS). Results: Among 784 patients who received preoperative chemotherapy, the regimen was oxaliplatin- (66%) or irinotecan-based (34%). Among patients with a TBS<6 at diagnosis, genetic status was the most important prognostic variable. Patients with a TBS<6, 5-year OS was 55%, 35%, and 0% for patients with KRAS/NRAS/BRAF wild-type, KRAS/NRAS, and BRAF mutations, respectively. Among patients who presented with CRLM with a TBS≥6, only Δ-TBS was prognostically important and patients with a Δ-TBS ≥ −10% had a 5-year OS of 27% compared with 49% for patients with a Δ-TBS < −10%. Conclusions: Prognostic stratification of patients with CRLM receiving preoperative chemotherapy should be multi-faceted and include consideration of initial tumor burden, change in tumor burden due to chemotherapy, and tumor genetic status.