[Treatment for brain metastases of lung cancer]

Treatment for brain metastases of lung cancer was reviewed. For single brain metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer, surgical resection followed by whole brain irradiation (WBI) or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) showed a better treatment outcome compared with WBI alone. A randomized trial comparing surgical resection plus WBI with SRS may be warranted. For multiple brain metastasis, WBI is now the sole effective therapy. However, an optimal schedule of radiotherapy has not yet been established. For brain metastasis of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), rapid improvement of symptoms is achieved with WBI, while the response duration is brief. Recently, the brain metastasis from SCLC is suggested to respond as well to the systemic chemotherapy as does extracranial disease, even though it has not been documented in randomized trials. Consolidating WBI after systemic chemotherapy for the brain metastasis from SCLC should be evaluated.