JRSBRT HomeIssue Contents

Review Article
The role of stereotactic radiosurgery and whole brain radiation therapy as primary treatment in the treatment of patients with brain oligometastases — A systematic review
Or Cohen-Inbar and Jason P. Sheehan

The management of patients presenting with a limited number of brain metastases (BM) (oligometastases, defined as less than 3 BM) has evolved from Whole-Brain Radiotherapy (WBRT) alone to more aggressive strategies adding surgical resection and Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) to the armamentarium. In choosing treatment modalities, the relative importance of the patient’s age and clinical parameters, the number or volume of BM and the potential treatment related adverse-effects has been a matter of much debate. For patients with oligometastatic BM, local therapy using SRS in addition to WBRT was shown to improve time to neurologic deterioration, relapse rate and Overall Survival (OS). In patients who receive local therapy (SRS or surgery), adjuvant WBRT was shown to improve regional (brain) relapse rate. In the contemporary era, the beneficial effect of WBRT on lengthening the time of neurologic independence or OS when compared to no further treatment is unclear. One Meta-analysis pooling of information from several reports concluded that for younger patients (

Keywords: stereotactic radiosurgery, whole-brain radiotherapy, oligometastases, brain metastases, local control, regional control.

Full Text (IP)
Purchase Article (PDF)