A successfully resected case of colorectal cancer with multiple liver metastases treated with FOLFIRI after failure of mFOLFOX6

A sixty-year-old man was admitted with anorexia and abdominal mass. Colonoscopy revealed type 2 tumor at sigmoid colon. Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated multiple liver metastases. The patient was diagnosed as sigmoid colon cancer with multiple liver metastases. The patient was treated with mFOLFOX6 as neoadjuvant chemotherapy because the liver metastases were unresectable. However, after 2 cycles of mFOLFOX6, the level of CEA and CA19-9 much increased. The regimen was replaced by FOLFIRI. The level of CEA and CA19-9 decreased after 2 cycles of FOLFIRI. CEA and CA19-9 further decreased and colonoscopy and CT revealed a partial response after 5 cycles of FOLFIRI. The patient was subjected to curative resection. Sigmoidectomy and liver resection were performed. Histological response was Grade 1b at liver metastasis. The patient was discharged and had an uneventful recovery. Six months after surgery, CEA and CA19-9 decreased to normal level, and the patient is free of recurrence. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer may render some unresectable patients resectable, affording these patients the possibility of prolonged survival. However, the optimal approach is unknown.