Radiation Therapy for the Management of Brain Metastases

Brain metastases are the most common malignant intracranial tumors and carry a poor prognosis. The management of brain metastases may include a variety of treatment modalities including surgical resection, radiation therapy, and/or systemic therapy. The traditional treatment for brain metastasis involved whole brain irradiation. However, improved systemic control of primary cancers has led to longer survival for some groups of patients and there is increasing need to consider the late effects of radiation to the entire brain. With advances in imaging and radiation treatment planning and delivery stereotactic radiosurgery has become more frequently utilized and may be delivered through Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery or linear accelerator-based systems. Furthermore, experience in treating thousands of patients on clinical trials has led to diagnosis-specific prognostic assessment systems that help guide our approach to the management of this common clinical scenario. This review provides an overview of the literature supporting radiotherapy for brain metastasis and an update on current radiotherapeutic options that is tailored for the nonradiation oncologist.