Surgical versus nonsurgical management of metastatic melanoma of the brain.
A retrospective analysis of 80 patients with cerebral metastases from melanoma revealed that 42 patients in whom the metastases were excised experienced a median survival of 5 months, in comparison with a 6-week median survival for 38 patients who were not operated upon. The same survival figures applied when comparing only patients with known Stage 4 disease at the time of diagnosis of the brain metastasis. The surgical mortality rate was 9.5% for the entire series and 5.4% for the 37 patients treated surgically since 1960.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors