title: Adjuvant whole brain radiation following resection of brain metastases.
abstract: Brain metastasis is a common complication of systemic cancer and significant cause of suffering in oncology patients. Despite a plethora of available treatment modalities, the prognosis is poor with a median survival time of approximately one year. For patients with controlled systemic disease, good performance status, and a limited number of metastases, treatment typically entails surgical resection or radiosurgery, followed by whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) to control microscopic disease. WBRT is known to control the progression of cancer in the brain, but it can also have toxic effects, particularly with regard to neurocognition. There is no consensus as to whether the benefit of WBRT outweighs the potential harm. We review the evidence related to the question of whether patients undergoing surgical resection of brain metastases should receive adjuvant WBRT.
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, Manhattan, New York, NY, USA.
authors: David F
authors: DF
authors: Slottje
authors: Joon-Hyung
authors: JH
authors: Kim
authors: Lisa
authors: L
authors: Wang
authors: Daniel M S
authors: DM
authors: Raper
authors: Ashish H
authors: AH
authors: Shah
authors: Amade
authors: A
authors: Bregy
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Furlong
authors: Karthik
authors: K
authors: Madhavan
authors: Brian E
authors: BE
authors: Lally
authors: Ricardo J
authors: RJ
authors: Komotar
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000601:surgery; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000379:methods