New strategy in hepatic metastatic colorectal cancer: tomotherapy and capecitabine followed by hepatic surgical resection

The majority of patients who develop liver metastases in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) has often unresectable disease. Several new methods of nonsurgical ablation have been tested with variable success. Helical tomotherapy (HT), such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or stereotactic body radiotherapy therapy, is a recent radiation therapy technique which can provide simultaneous and precise targeting of multiple lesions, while sparing normal tissues. We retrospectively assess the feasibility and the tolerance of IMRT with capecitabine followed by hepatic surgery in mCRC patients. This original observation suggests that HT could be safely integrated in the multidisciplinary management of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer as an alternative to surgery or other local ablation therapies.