Metastatic Tumors

• Metastatic Tumors are the most common malignancy encountered in the central nervous system
• Up to 30-40% of cancer patients develop brain metastases at some point
• Conventional therapeutic options include surgical resection, stereotactic radiosurgery and whole brain radiotherapy
• Lung, breast and melanoma are the 3 most common primary tumors that metastasize to the brain
• Many brain metastases can be cured or controlled with a combination of surgical resection and stereotactic radiosurgery
• Suboptimal treatment impairs quality of life and survival
• Treatment
  • Multimodality treatment is often necessary
  • Combination of surgical resection, stereotactic radiosurgery and whole brain radiotherapy
  • Chemotherapy has limited role in the management of brain metastases. Response rate less than 5%