Body composition as reflected by intramuscular adipose tissue content may influence short- and long-term outcome following 2-stage liver resection for colorectal liver metastases

Introduction For many kinds of cancer, body composition and immunonutritional status have been reported to influence postoperative outcome. We assessed their impact on short- and long-term outcome in patients with colorectal liver metastases who underwent 2-stage liver resections. Methods Short- and long-term outcomes for 47 patients with 2-stage hepatectomies were assessed retrospectively in terms of data obtained before preoperative chemotherapy, before the first hepatectomy, and before the second hepatectomy. Results Although immunonutritional status and body composition did not affect short-term outcome, high intramuscular fat content before the second hepatectomy was a poor prognostic factor for overall survival (HR, 5.829; 95% CI, 1.611–21.090; p = 0.007) and for recurrence-free survival (HR, 2.787; 95% CI, 1.301–5.973; p = 0.008). Patients with high intramuscular fat before the second hepatectomy also showed shorter intervals from recurrence to treatment failure. Conclusion Intramuscular fat before the second hepatectomy is an important negative prognosticator in 2-stage liver resection for colorectal liver metastases.