Brief Report


Tumor enhancement of colorectal liver metastases on preoperative gadobutrol-enhanced MRI at 5 minutes post-contrast injection is associated with overall survival post-hepatectomy

Helen M. C. Cheung, Paul J. Karanicolas, Natalie Coburn, Calvin Law, Laurent Milot

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that target tumor enhancement (TTE) of colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRCLM) on 10-minute delayed phase gadobutrol-enhanced MRI is associated with overall survival post-hepatectomy. The purpose of this study was to determine whether TTE of CRCLM on preoperative gadobutrol-enhanced MRI measured at 5-minute delayed phase is also associated with overall survival. We performed a single-institution, REB-approved, retrospective study of 121 patients with CRCLM who had received a clinical gadobutrol-enhanced MRI after treatment with chemotherapy and prior to liver surgery between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2012. The TTE of the colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) on 5-minute delayed phase was determined. Kaplan-Meier and Cox-regression survival analyses were used in order to determine the association between TTE on 5-minute delayed phase and overall survival, after adjusting for known prognostic variables. TTE of chemotherapy-treated CRLM on gadobutrol-enhanced MRI at 5-minute post-contrast injection is associated with overall survival post-hepatectomy. On Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, there was a significant difference in overall survival between strong and weak TTE groups (log-rank P=0.009) with 74.4% survival at 36 months in the strong TTE group compared to only 44.6% in the weak TTE group. On Cox-regression analysis, the adjusted hazard ratio of death for patients with low TTE was 0.40 (95% CI: 0.18–0.90, P=0.026), after adjusting for known prognostic variables. This study provides preliminary evidence that tumor enhancement of CRLM at 5 minutes post-contrast injection on gadobutrol-enhanced MRI may provide preoperative prognostic information. This may be helpful for risk stratification of patients for surgery.

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