Salvage Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases

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    lou2
    Participant

      Salvage Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases: Prognostic Factors to Consider in Patient Selection

      Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys 2014 Jan 01;88(1)137-142, G Kurtz, G Zadeh, G Gingras-Hill, B-A Millar, NJ Laperriere, M Bernstein, H Jiang, C Ménard, C Chung

      Research · December 19, 2013
       
       

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      ABSTRACT


      International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics

      Salvage Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases: Prognostic Factors to Consider in Patient Selection

      Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys 2014 Jan 01;88(1)137-142, G Kurtz, G Zadeh, G Gingras-Hill, B-A Millar, NJ Laperriere, M Bernstein, H Jiang, C Ménard, C Chung

       

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        NYKaren
        Participant

          Can someone please be kind enough to explain this in layman's terms?

          thanks,

          karen

          NYKaren
          Participant

            Can someone please be kind enough to explain this in layman's terms?

            thanks,

            karen

            NYKaren
            Participant

              Can someone please be kind enough to explain this in layman's terms?

              thanks,

              karen

                POW
                Participant

                  Melanoma brain mets are usually treated with radiation– either stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or whole brain radiation (WBR). It is quite common that later on, these same patients develop one or more additional brain mets. This report is asking the question; "Which patients are most likely to benefit from treating recurrent brain mets with more radiation? Will another dose of radiation really do them any good?"

                  What the authors found is that additional SRS is helpful to some patients but not to all patients. The patients most likely to benefit from another round of radiotherapy are:

                  1. Younger patients (the abstract does not give an age but I suspect younger than 65),

                  2. Patients whose disease in the rest of their body is well controlled by some type of treatment, and 

                  3. Patients who responded well to the original radiation treatment (i.e., their original brain tumors were killed by the original radiation treatment).

                  So if someone is relatively young, the tumors in their body are stable or shrinking, and it has been at least 9 months since their original brain mets were treated, additional radiation treatment to new or recurrent brain mets may significantly extend their life. However, if someone is older than 65 or the tumors in their body are progressing or new brain mets appear relatively quickly after the first radiation treatment, another round of radiation treatment is unlikely to do them much good. 

                  I think we all pretty much assumed this all along, but its nice to have it scientifically confirmed.

                  POW
                  Participant

                    Melanoma brain mets are usually treated with radiation– either stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or whole brain radiation (WBR). It is quite common that later on, these same patients develop one or more additional brain mets. This report is asking the question; "Which patients are most likely to benefit from treating recurrent brain mets with more radiation? Will another dose of radiation really do them any good?"

                    What the authors found is that additional SRS is helpful to some patients but not to all patients. The patients most likely to benefit from another round of radiotherapy are:

                    1. Younger patients (the abstract does not give an age but I suspect younger than 65),

                    2. Patients whose disease in the rest of their body is well controlled by some type of treatment, and 

                    3. Patients who responded well to the original radiation treatment (i.e., their original brain tumors were killed by the original radiation treatment).

                    So if someone is relatively young, the tumors in their body are stable or shrinking, and it has been at least 9 months since their original brain mets were treated, additional radiation treatment to new or recurrent brain mets may significantly extend their life. However, if someone is older than 65 or the tumors in their body are progressing or new brain mets appear relatively quickly after the first radiation treatment, another round of radiation treatment is unlikely to do them much good. 

                    I think we all pretty much assumed this all along, but its nice to have it scientifically confirmed.

                    POW
                    Participant

                      Melanoma brain mets are usually treated with radiation– either stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or whole brain radiation (WBR). It is quite common that later on, these same patients develop one or more additional brain mets. This report is asking the question; "Which patients are most likely to benefit from treating recurrent brain mets with more radiation? Will another dose of radiation really do them any good?"

                      What the authors found is that additional SRS is helpful to some patients but not to all patients. The patients most likely to benefit from another round of radiotherapy are:

                      1. Younger patients (the abstract does not give an age but I suspect younger than 65),

                      2. Patients whose disease in the rest of their body is well controlled by some type of treatment, and 

                      3. Patients who responded well to the original radiation treatment (i.e., their original brain tumors were killed by the original radiation treatment).

                      So if someone is relatively young, the tumors in their body are stable or shrinking, and it has been at least 9 months since their original brain mets were treated, additional radiation treatment to new or recurrent brain mets may significantly extend their life. However, if someone is older than 65 or the tumors in their body are progressing or new brain mets appear relatively quickly after the first radiation treatment, another round of radiation treatment is unlikely to do them much good. 

                      I think we all pretty much assumed this all along, but its nice to have it scientifically confirmed.

                      NYKaren
                      Participant

                        Thanks, Pat. 

                        I had a feeling, but most of what I found related to prostate. 

                        I've been through Gamma twice, and while it was an easy procedure, twice is enough for me. 

                        Karen

                        NYKaren
                        Participant

                          Thanks, Pat. 

                          I had a feeling, but most of what I found related to prostate. 

                          I've been through Gamma twice, and while it was an easy procedure, twice is enough for me. 

                          Karen

                          NYKaren
                          Participant

                            Thanks, Pat. 

                            I had a feeling, but most of what I found related to prostate. 

                            I've been through Gamma twice, and while it was an easy procedure, twice is enough for me. 

                            Karen

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