Radiosurgery for brain metastasis from advanced gastric cancer

Purpose We retrospectively evaluated the survival of patients with brain metastases from advanced gastric cancer (AGC) after radiosurgery (RS). Methods Between 1998 and 2007, a total of 11 patients (median age, 61 years; range, 36-70) were diagnosed with brain metastasis from AGC and treated with RS. Each of five (46%) patients had two brain metastases. The median volume of the 16 lesions was 2.9 cm³ (range, 0.1-33.8). The median marginal dose prescribed was 20 Gy (range, 10-25) at the 50% isodose line. RS was the primary treatment for brain metastases in six patients. Results As of February 28, 2008, eight (73%) patients had died, and three (27%) were living with stable disease. The median survival time was 17.0±3.9 months (95% CI, 9.4-24.6). The median progression-free survival time was 9.0± 2.5 months (95% CI, 4.2-13.8). Patients who did not undergo WBRT died within 8 months, and the other six patients treated with WBRT at various time intervals from the diagnosis of brain metastases survived, with a median survival time of 19.0±3.4 months (95% CI, 12.4-25.6). Conclusions Radiosurgery seems to be a good alternative to surgical resection for patients with brain metastases from AGC, when performed in conjunction with WBRT.