Limited influences of chemotherapy on healthy and metastatic liver parenchyma from colorectal cancer.

3640 Background: Liver metastasis often occurs in patients who undergo surgical removal of the primary colorectal tumor. The adhesion molecules, E-cadherin/catenin complex, are closely involved in the development and growth of metastatic tumors. Today, no data are available on the effect of chemotherapy on liver parenchyma. METHODS Thirty-nine patients (27 males and 12 females, with a mean age of 60.3 years) who underwent liver resection for hepatic metastasis from colorectal cancer were included in the study. Tissue samples taken from the tumor and surrounding liver parenchyma were immunohistochemically stained for E-cadherin, α -, β -, and γ -catenin, VEGF and p53. The patients were divided in two groups: those (n=15) who had no chemotherpay for at least 6 months before the liver resections and those (n=24) who were treated with chemotherapy before liver resections. A score from 0 to 3 was given for the number of positive cells and from 0 to 3 for the intensity of staining in these cells, in both healthy and metastatic liver parenchyma. The sum of both scores, with a maximum of 6, was made. Changes were statistically evaluated with the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS In the non-involved liver parenchyma no differences could be observed for E-cadherin/catenin complex, VEGF and p53 between patients receiving or not receiving chemotherapy. In the metastatic liver parenchyma, VEGF expression was more pronounced in patients receiving chemotherapy in comparison with patients receiving no chemotherapy (p=0.048). There were no differences for the E-cadherin/catenin complex. CONCLUSIONS No histochemical changes are observed in non-involved liver parenchyma. A limited influence of chemotherapy was noticed on metastatic liver parenchyma. No significant financial relationships to disclose.