Is there any role for liver resection in the treatment of liver metastases from gastric carcinoma?

Hepatectomy is an increasingly utilised treatment for liver-limited metastatic disease. While this is usually in the setting of colorectal metastases, occasionally there is a role for this in other malignancies (1). Markar et al. (2) have recently published a systematic review and pooled analysis on the role of hepatectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma metastases. Primary outcome was assessed as overall survival following liver resection; secondary outcomes examined were morbidity and mortality rates and prognostic factors that may impact survival following resection. These aims were similar to those of an earlier review (3) of the same topic published some two years ago, and four new studies have been published since that time and were included in this present review, providing an update on current evidence.