Abstract
Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics and radiotherapy schedules of patients for whom palliative radiotherapy for brain metastasis was administered. Methods: This was a retrospective study that evaluated the patients who received palliative radiotherapy for brain metastases between January 2011 and December 2019. Patient treatment files and the hospital information management system were used to collect the data. Results: In this study, 4107 patients who received radiotherapy for any brain tumors were evaluated. Of these, 2910 had metastatic brain tumors. In the metastatic group 1736 (60%) patients were male and 1174 (40%) were female. Primary diagnosis was lung cancer (38%), breast cancer (20%), primary unknown (15%), gastrointestinal cancers (12%), and other cancers (15%). 1643 (52%) patients received whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), 535 (18%) received WBRT with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and 706 (29%) received SRS without WBRT for brain metastasis. Radiotherapy data of 26 (1%) patients could not be accessed. Conclusion: Both WBRT and SRS are good palliative treatment options for brain metastasis. SRS without WBRT can be considered as a treatment option in selected cases.
Highlights
The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics and radiotherapy schedules of patients for whom palliative radiotherapy for brain metastasis was administered
The purpose of this study is to review the number of patients, demographic characteristics, radiotherapy techniques (WBRT, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), or whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT)+SRS) and treatment doses used for patients with brain metastasis treated in a radiation oncology department
Distribution by primary tumor was determined as lung cancer (38%), breast cancer (20%), primary unknown (15%), gastrointestinal cancers (12%), and other cancers (15%)
Summary
The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics and radiotherapy schedules of patients for whom palliative radiotherapy for brain metastasis was administered. Methods: This was a retrospective study that evaluated the patients who received palliative radiotherapy for brain metastases between January 2011 and December 2019. 1643 (52%) patients received whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), 535 (18%) received WBRT with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and 706 (29%) received SRS without WBRT for brain metastasis. Conclusion: Both WBRT and SRS are good palliative treatment options for brain metastasis. The treatment options for brain metastases are surgery, whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), and systemic therapies. These modalities may be used alone or combined. This study was the first step for the use of radiotherapy for brain metastases.[5] Different dose schedules have been used for WBRT (20 Gy/5 fractions, 30 Gy/10 fractions). No significant difference was reported in terms of survival or symptom palliation between these different WBRT schedules.[6]
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