title: Role of radiosurgery in the management of central nervous system metastases.
abstract: Radiosurgery is being used more routinely to treat patients with inoperable, recurrent, or multiple brain metastases from systemic cancer. Results in > 2000 treated patients have been published during the past 8 years. These results indicate that permanent local control can be obtained in > 80% of treated lesions with complications in < 10% of patients. Success is independent of the histology, ie, melanoma vs adenocarcinoma, of the treated lesion or number of lesions treated. The long-term results of radiosurgery compare favorably with those seen following surgical resection. The cost-effectiveness of radiosurgery compared to surgical resection favors an expanded role for this technology in the treatment of selected patients with brain metastases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114, USA. Loeffler.Jay@mgh.harvard.edu
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Loeffler
authors.forename: F G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Chapman
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects