A single surgery to remove malignant tumors from both the colon and liver is a better choice in some cases than separate operations, new research has found.

Scientists from the Duke University Medical Center reported to the annual meeting of the Society of Surgical Oncology in Washington, D.C. that in about a third of the cases in which cancer is found in the colon, it has already spread to the liver. In some of these cases, when only a small amount of the liver has to be removed, they say, it is better to perform both surgeries at the same time.

"The standard approach for these patients has been to remove the colorectal cancer and give them chemotherapy afterwards, waiting to remove liver tumors later if patients do not appear to be developing disease elsewhere in the body, " said senior investigator Dr. Bryan Clary in a Duke University news release. "These findings suggest there might be an alternative that is as safe and may even lead to better outcomes."

The chance of the liver surviving is better by simultaneous surgery, the scientists concluded, because it may spare the organ the toxic effects of chemotherapy. About 25,000 patients with colorectal and liver tumors could be eligible for the simultaneous surgery annually, Clary said.

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