Treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: innovations in surgical techniques.

Liver metastases and peritoneal carcinomatosis are a particular focus of surgeons in improving survival in stage IV colorectal cancer patients, with laparotomy long being the means to undertake these operations. The Louisville statement published in 2008 was the first international consensus on indications for minimally invasive liver resection. Herein we review the progress in innovative surgical techniques, including minimally invasive liver resection, robot-assisted hepatectomy, and we also describe initial reports in pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy.