Management of brain metastases: the indispensable role of surgery
Open Access
- 9 April 2009
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Journal of Neuro-Oncology
- Vol. 92 (3), 275-282
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-009-9839-y
Abstract
Brain metastases are the most common neurological complication of systemic cancer and carry a very poor prognosis. The management of patients with brain metastases has become more important recently because of the increased incidence of these tumors and the prolonged patient survival times that have accompanied increased control of systemic cancer. In this article, we review the current perspectives on surgical treatment of brain metastases in terms of patient selection criteria, intraoperative adjuncts, whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) as a postoperative adjuvant, reoperation for tumor recurrence, and resection of multiple and single metastases. Achieving the best outcome in treatment of brain metastasis requires the judicious and complementary use of surgical resection along with modalities such as whole-brain radiation therapy and stereotactic radiosurgery.Keywords
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