Prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer with synchronous brain metastases treated with gamma knife radiosurgery

The clinical outcome and prognostic factors of patients with synchronous brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treated with gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) were analyzed. A total of 35 patients with NSCLC underwent GKS as an initial treatment for metastatic brain lesions of synchronous onset. The period of survival and various prognostic factors such as age, gender, performance status, multiplicity of the brain lesions, intracranial tumor volume, and extent of the primary tumor were analyzed. The overall median survival time for this series was 12 months (range 0.75 to 43 months) from the diagnosis. Of the 21 patients who were no longer alive at the conclusion of this study, only 7 (33.3%) died of neurological causes. Multivariate analysis of these data revealed that N stage, whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), and chemotherapy were significant predictors for survival (p<0.05). Survival of patients with NSCLC and synchronous brain metastases is mainly dependent upon the progression of the systemic disease, provided that the cerebral lesions are treated adequately with local treatment modalities including radiosurgery. Application of radiosurgery as an initial treatment option and aggressive local and systemic modalities to control extracranial disease may improve survival.