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SRS Comparable to Surgical Resection for Local Control of Brain Metastases

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers results comparable to surgery in controlling local brain metastases, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have found. The study was produced in collaboration with European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer. It is the largest direct comparison of the two treatment modalities. The paper appears in JAMA Oncology.

Researchers analyzed 268 patients who received either surgery or SRS—focal, high-dose, precisely targeted radiation. They report that early local control of treated lesions was better with SRS compared with those treated surgically, although the relative benefit decreased with time.

"Risk of early local recurrence was higher among surgical patients, while risk of late relapse was higher among SRS patients," says Stephanie E. Weiss, MD, FASTRO, chief of the division of neurological oncology at Fox Chase and author of the study.

Some of the most commonly diagnosed cancers—lung, breast, colorectal, and melanoma—are also among those most likely to spread to the brain. There are about 140,000 cases of brain metastases annually in the United States. SRS and surgery both have been shown to be more effective at controlling brain metastases than whole-brain radiotherapy, but there was previously little evidence about which option offered the best local control for treating patients with limited brain metastases.

The authors presented an early version of this study at the ASTRO 2017 annual meeting. It was chosen for distinction at the "Scientific Highlights" program, emphasizing high-scoring and high-impact work. This publication was supported by grant number P30 CA006927 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NCI or the National Institutes of Health.

— Source: Fox Chase Cancer Center