TY - JOUR
T1 - Surgical treatment of single brain metastasis. Evaluation of results by computerized tomography scanning
AU - Galicich, J. H.
AU - Sundaresan, N.
AU - Tzvi Thaler, H.
PY - 1980
Y1 - 1980
N2 - From July, 1977, through December, 1978, a series of 33 patients with solitary brain meatstases underwent surgical resection and postoperative radiation therapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Sequential computerized tomography (CT) scanning was performed to determine the incidence of local recurrence and new brain metastases. The cause of death was identified by clinical follow-up study. The median survival for the entire group was 8 months, with a 1-year survival of 44%. Of the patients with no evidence of systemic cancer at the time of craniotomy, 81% lived 1 year. Local reccurence was noted in one patient known to have subtotal removal of tumor, and three patients developed carcinomatous meningitis. Of the 20 patients who died, four died within 30 days following surgery; three died of causes related to the central nervous system (CNS); and 13 (65%) succumbed to systemic cancer. These data show that recurrence in the CNS following surgery and radiation therapy for single brain metastasis is low, and that serial CT scanning provides a much better measure of the effectiveness of treatment of this complication of cancer than survival times. It is suggested that results of CT and neurological examination be used as indices when comparing different modes of therapy for brain metastases. Significant further improvement in survival of these patients is dependent on control of systemic cancer.
AB - From July, 1977, through December, 1978, a series of 33 patients with solitary brain meatstases underwent surgical resection and postoperative radiation therapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Sequential computerized tomography (CT) scanning was performed to determine the incidence of local recurrence and new brain metastases. The cause of death was identified by clinical follow-up study. The median survival for the entire group was 8 months, with a 1-year survival of 44%. Of the patients with no evidence of systemic cancer at the time of craniotomy, 81% lived 1 year. Local reccurence was noted in one patient known to have subtotal removal of tumor, and three patients developed carcinomatous meningitis. Of the 20 patients who died, four died within 30 days following surgery; three died of causes related to the central nervous system (CNS); and 13 (65%) succumbed to systemic cancer. These data show that recurrence in the CNS following surgery and radiation therapy for single brain metastasis is low, and that serial CT scanning provides a much better measure of the effectiveness of treatment of this complication of cancer than survival times. It is suggested that results of CT and neurological examination be used as indices when comparing different modes of therapy for brain metastases. Significant further improvement in survival of these patients is dependent on control of systemic cancer.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0018824973&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3171/jns.1980.53.1.0063
DO - 10.3171/jns.1980.53.1.0063
M3 - Article
C2 - 7411209
AN - SCOPUS:0018824973
SN - 0022-3085
VL - 53
SP - 63
EP - 67
JO - Journal of Neurosurgery
JF - Journal of Neurosurgery
IS - 1
ER -