Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Over the last decade, various groups have proposed prognostic scoring systems for patients with colorectal liver metastasis (CLM) treated with hepatic resection. The aims of the current study were to evaluate the differences between and clinical importance of these prognostic scoring systems and to determine their clinical applicability. METHODS: Relevant articles were reviewed from the published literature using the MEDLINE database. The search was performed using the keywords 'colorectal cancer', 'metastases', 'liver resection' and 'hepatectomy'. RESULTS: Twelve prognostic scoring systems were identified from 1996 to 2009. Six of these originated from European institutions, three from Asian and three from North American centres. The median study sample was 288 patients (range 81-1568 patients) and median follow-up was 35 months (range 16-52 months). All studies were retrospective in nature and the numbers of groups proposed by the various scoring systems ranged from three to six. All the studies used the Cox proportional hazard model for multi-variable analysis. CONCLUSIONS: There is no 'ideal' prognostic scoring system for the clinical management of patients with CLM for hepatic resection. These prognostic scoring systems are clinically relevant with respect to survival but have not been used for risk stratification in controversial areas such as the administration of chemotherapy or surveillance programmes.