Surgical treatment of metastatic brain tumors

The most common structural neurologic complication of systemic cancer is brain metastasis. For the most part, treatment is palliative because the majority of patients (> or = 50%) have uncontrollable systemic cancer. However, for patients in whom the only metastasis is to the brain, death is more likely to result from the metastasis than from the systemic disease; hence, treatment of the metastasis is vitally important. Although radiotherapy is generally considered the preferred treatment, surgical removal of the mass, whether single or multiple, may be the most effective palliation, especially for tumors from radio-resistant diseases such as melanoma, kidney and colon cancer. We review the information regarding therapeutic decision-making; advances in surgical procedures, namely computer-assisted stereotactic and/or intraoperative ultrasound and mapping techniques; the efficacy of postoperative WBRT; complications and benefits of surgery; our experience with reoperation for recurrent metastatic brain tumors, the results of which indicate that reoperation for recurrent brain metastasis can prolong survival and improve quality of life for most individuals; our results comparing surgery versus radiosurgery, which show that patients who undergo surgical treatment live longer and have better tumor control than those treated with radiosurgery; and the patient's prognosis. The conclusion is that surgery should remain the treatment of choice whenever possible.