Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND Resection of brain metastases (BM) without additional radiation therapy yields a high local failure rate. Surgical resection of newly diagnosed BM combined with post-operative stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to reduce the risk of a local recurrence is an accepted and effective treatment option. Drawbacks of postoperative SRS include uncertainty in target delineation, potential delay in the administration of SRS and intraoperative risk of tumor spillage. Preoperative SRS might address these potential drawbacks. We present our experience with preoperative Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for recurrent BM. MATERIAL AND METHODS Data of patients with recurrent BM treated with GKRS followed by surgical resection between June 2019 and June 2021 at the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital Tilburg were retrospectively collected. Surgery was necessary according to the multidisciplinary team because of mass effect, a symptomatic lesion or a large tumor volume not eligible for salvage stereotactic radiosurgery. Pre-operative SRS was performed with GKRS followed by surgery within 24 hours. All patients had follow-up appointments with MRI scan as long as clinical meaningful. In case of new intracranial disease new treatment was offered if appropriate. Descriptive analyses were used to give an overview of the patient characteristics. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to analyze overall survival. RESULTS 25 patients (male 8, female 17; median age 64 years (range 20-79 years)) underwent preoperative GKRS for recurrent brain metastases. Most patients were previously treated with GKRS (76%) or SRS (24%). Most patients had non-small cell lung cancer (44%), followed by breast (12%), small cell lung cancer (12%), and melanoma (12%). The median overall survival was 18.5 months (95% CI, 4.9 to 32.1 months). Eight patients (32%) had (multiple) surgical complications, three of these patients died due to the postoperative complications. Twelve patients (48%) developed a local recurrence. The median time to local recurrence was 6.9 months (95% CI, 4.7 to 9.1months). Of the 16 patients with a subtotal resection, 10 patients developed a local recurrence, with 6 recurrences at the site of the macroscopic residual tumor. Two patients (8%) developed leptomeningeal disease at 2.8 months and 3.9 months. Two patients (8%) developed new brain metastases (distant failure) at 5.4 months and 23.8 months. CONCLUSION Pre-operative radiosurgery was well tolerated in a group of patients with recurrent BM who were eligible for surgery. Larger series are needed to perform multivariate analyses on predictors of local recurrence in order to evaluate for which patients this treatment option is best suited.

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