title: Outcomes of reirradiation in the treatment of patients with multiple brain metastases of solid tumors: a retrospective analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with multiple brain metastases are often treated with whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Second course of WBRT is an important treatment option for patients with clinical or radiological intracranial disease progression. This study examines the outcomes in patients with multiple brain metastases who underwent reirradiation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined the medical records of 34 patients with multiple brain metastases who were treated WBRT. The median dose for the first course of WBRT was 30 Gy (range, 25-30 Gy) and for the second course 25 Gy (range, 20-30 Gy). Statistical analyses were performed with using Cox regression analyses, log-rank test and Kaplan-Meier method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median Karnofsky performance status (KPS) was 80 (range, 50-100) before reirradiation. Patients with KPS of >70 had a median survival of 11.4 months, compared to 2.2 months with KPS of ≤70 (P=0.012) and patients who have severe symptoms at the time of reirradiation with median survival 2.2 months while those with mild symptoms had a median of 4.8 months survival (P=0.08). The median overall survival for all patients after diagnosis of metastases was 24.7 months, after the re-irradiation WBRT (re-WBRT) it was 5.3 months (95% CI, 4.08-6.62) and from the diagnosis of primary tumor was 27.1 months (95% CI, 17.75-37.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In select patients who have good performance status and who do not have severe symptoms might benefit from re-WBRT and re-WBRT seems to be associated with minimal toxicity in patients treated with lower palliation doses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Meryem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aktan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koc
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gul
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kanyilmaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yilmaz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tezcan
keywords: Brain metastasis; reirradiation; survival; whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT)