Abstract
29 Background: Brain metastases (BM) are rare in colorectal cancer (CRC) with 1-3% of patients developing BM over their lifetime. There are no screening recommendations for BM in patients with CRC and most are diagnosed after a patient develops symptoms. Identifying the clinical characteristics for patients with CRC and BM may aid clinicians to consider BM early in symptom onset and potentially screen appropriate patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients >18 years diagnosed with CRC and BM at Yale New Haven Hospital from 1/2012-9/2021. Clinical characteristics were analyzed by descriptive statistics, time intervals were compared using the Mann-Whitney test, and survival analysis was done using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: We identified 93 patients with CRC and BM. Median age at diagnosis was 56 years, 55% were male, 75% of patients had a left sided primary tumor and 47% were rectal primary. At initial diagnosis, 38% and 39% were stage III and IV respectively. RAS/RAF mutations were present in 45% of patients and all were mismatch repair proficient. The median time from CRC diagnosis to BM was 3.81 years (95% CI 3.09, 4.41) and median time from metastatic CRC to BM was 2.21 years (95% CI 1.48, 2.75). Median overall survival after developing BM was 0.49 years (95% CI 0.24, 0.70). Patients with RAS/RAF mutations had a decreased median time from CRC diagnosis to BM of 3.33 years (95% CI 2.69, 4.37) compared to RAS/RAF wildtype at 5.09 years (95% CI 4.44, 7.97) (p 0.0028). Median time to BM from CRC diagnosis was also decreased in females (p 0.01). The location of primary tumor did not significantly decrease time to BM. Prior to BM diagnosis, 76% of patients had lung metastasis. 84% of patients received treatment for BM while 14% had no BM treatment and 2% were unknown. For treatment 50% had Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, 22% underwent surgical excision +/- adjuvant radiation, and 12% underwent whole brain radiotherapy. After BM treatment, 43% of patients received additional chemotherapy. Conclusions: Although BM in CRC is uncommon, early diagnosis in those at risk is critical given the urgent nature of BM. Patients with CRC that develop BM frequently have tumors that originate in the left side of the colon and preexisting lung metastasis. In patients with CRC and BM, the majority develop BM > 3 years after initial CRC diagnosis, and BM onset is significantly shorter in females and patients with tumors harboring a RAS/RAF mutation. After BM diagnosis and treatment, less than half of patients are able to receive subsequent therapy, and median survival is < 6 months. [Table: see text]
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