Survival Rate of Cancer Patients with Brain Metastases after Whole Brain Radiation Therapy

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the overall survival and prognostic factors associated with survival of cancer patients who had radiation therapy for their brain metastases.

Methods: This study was a retrospective descriptive study. Medical records of 219 cancer patients with brain metastases who were treated with radiation therapy between January 2002 and April 2011 were reviewed.

Results: Of 219 patients, 38.8% were male and 61.2% were female. Mean age was 56.0 ฑ 28.0 years. About 71.2% had Karnofski performance status (KPS) < 70. The most common primary cancers were lung cancer (49.3%) followed by breast cancer (22.4%). The most common histopathology of primary tumor was adenocarcinoma (64.8%). About 45.7% had tumor metastases in other organs. There were 25.6% of the patients who underwent resection of brain metastasis before whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). Overall 1-year survival rate was 17.8% (95% confidence interval (CI), 12.7-22.9) while the median survival was 4.3 month (95% CI, 3.6-5.0 months). Factors significantly associated with poor survival in multivariable analysis were low KPS score and tumor metastases in other organs. Patients with KPS < 70 had an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.3 compared to those with KPS ณ 70. Patients with tumor metastasis in other organs had an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.5 compared to those without tumor metastasis in other organs.

Conclusions: Overall 1-year survival rate of brain metastasis cancer patients was 17.8%, with the median survival of 4.3 month. Factors associated with overall survival were performance status and tumor metastasis in other organs.

Keywords: cancer patients, brain metastasis, survival