ArticleBMC cancer2026
Impact of time to ablation on survival outcomes in patients with colorectal liver metastases: an inverse probability-weighted cohort study.
Article in BMC cancer, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe optimal timing for thermal ablation (TA) in patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) eligible for local curative therapy remains undefined. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of time to ablation (TTA) on long-term survival outcomes.
methodsWe retrospectively analyzed 220 patients with ablatable CRLM (≤ 5 liver metastases, maximum diameter ≤ 3 cm) who underwent TA between January 2015 and December 2022. Based on the TTA, patients were stratified into three groups: upfront TA (UTA, ≤ 3 months, n = 113), short-term delayed TA (DTA, 3-6 months, n = 59), and long‑term DTA (> 6 months, n = 48). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was applied to reduce baseline selection bias. The primary endpoint was progression‑free survival (PFS), and the secondary endpoint was overall survival (OS).
resultsAfter IPTW adjustment, the difference in PFS among the three groups was statistically significant (P = 0.012). The 1‑, 3‑, and 5‑year PFS rates were 61.5%, 31.2%, and 30.2% in the UTA; 47.7%, 15.9%, and 4.7% in the short‑term DTA; and 53.4%, 8.5%, and 3.1% in the long‑term DTA. Multivariable Cox regression identified both short-term DTA and long‑term DTA as an independent risk factor for worse PFS (HR = 1.80. 95% CI: 1.20-2.70, PP = 0.005); and HR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.20-3.31, P = 0.008). No significant difference in OS was observed among the three groups. Subgroup analyses showed that DTA was associated with poorer PFS than UTA in patients with CEA > 5 ng/mL, synchronous metastases, N1-2 stage, or lymphovascular invasion. Moreover, among patients receiving UTA, adding neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not provide additional PFS or OS benefit compared with ablation alone (P > 0.05).
conclusionIn patients with ablatable CRLM, UTA significantly improves PFS compared with DTA, and DTA is an independent risk factor for worse PFS. Therefore, for eligible patients, UTA is recommended in preference to prolonged systemic therapy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.