Surgical Treatment of Metastatic Brain Tumors

Metastasis to the brain is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with cancer. Lung, breast, and renal cancers as well as melanomas are particularly prone to producing this complication. Brain metastases may be clinically silent or may be detected as a result of various neurologic symptoms, and they may present in patients with or without extracranial manifestations of the primary cancer. Various management approaches are available, and decisions on which treatment will provide most benefit are best made with multidisciplinary input. Surgical resection is considered for patients with single or adjacent metastases who are in good performance status and whose systemic cancer, if present, is likely to be indolent or controlled.