Potential Impact of the Overall Treatment Time on Outcomes after Whole-brain Irradiation with 10×3 Gy for Brain Metastases.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the impact of the overall treatment time (OTT) of whole-brain irradiation (WBI) with 10×3 Gy on outcomes in patients with brain metastases.


METHODS
Seventy-three patients who started WBI on Monday (OTT=12 days, including one weekend without irradiation) were compared to 257 patients who began WBI on Tuesday to Friday (OTT=14 days, including two weekends) for intracerebral control and survival. Seven additional factors were analyzed, including age, gender, Karnofsky performance score (KPS), tumor type, number (N) of brain lesions, extracerebral metastases and interval between cancer diagnosis and WBI.


RESULTS
On univariate analysis, age (p=0.039), KPS (p<0.001) and N brain metastases (p=0.006) were associated with intracerebral control; OTT had no significant impact (p=0.20). Age (p<0.001), KPS (p<0.001), N brain metastases (p=0.037) and extracerebral metastases (p<0.001) were associated with survival; OTT had no significant impact (p=0.37).


CONCLUSIONS
OTT (12 vs. 14 days) had no significant impact on outcomes after WBI with 10×3 Gy.
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany rades.dirk@gmx.net.
Dirk
D
Rades
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany Medical Practice for Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, Hannover, Germany.
Stefan
S
Janssen
Department of Radiotherapy, Dr. Bernard Verbeeten Institute, Tilburg, the Netehrlands.
Theo
T
Veninga
Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, U.S.A.
Steven E
SE
Schild
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D016371:Cranial Irradiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors
Brain metastases; intracerebral control; overall treatment time; survival; whole-brain irradiation