title: Systemic Treatment of Brain Metastases.
abstract: Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States. Brain metastases are a significant problem in patients with lung cancer and have conventionally been treated with whole-brain radiation. This article reviews the data for systemic chemotherapy to treat brain metastasis from lung cancer and examines the activity of small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors for the targeted therapy for brain metastases from EGFR-mutant and ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer. Future directions for evaluating the role of immunotherapy in treating brain metastasis are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8056, St Louis, MO 63110, USA. Electronic address: saiamawaqar@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Saiama N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Waqar
authors.affiliation: Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8056, St Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morgensztern
authors.affiliation: Section of Medical Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8056, St Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Ramaswamy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Govindan
mesh_terms: D000077548:Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D016371:Cranial Irradiation; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D009154:Mutation; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; C000626173:ALK protein, human; D000077548:Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase; C512478:EGFR protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
keywords: Brain metastases; Chemotherapy; Immunotherapy; Lung cancer; Targeted therapy