Mirjam Mast

Background/Objectives: Neurosurgical resection is the standard treatment for large brain metastases (BMs). Postoperative stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is used to reduce local recurrence (LR) but does not always prevent leptomeningeal disease (LMD). This study aims to analyze patterns of tumor recurrence and to identify opportunities for the further improvement of treatment efficacy. Methods: We included 147 patients who underwent resection and SRT for BMs. The distance between the resection cavity target volume and the new tumor growth was calculated. Cox regression analyses were used to assess associations of LMD with various patient characteristics. Results: Median survival after postoperative SRT was 14 months (IQR 6–30) with a 3-year actuarial survival rate of 21%. LR occurred in 20/147 patients (14%). After total resection, LR occurred in 21% of patients after 3 years of follow-up compared to 36% after subtotal resection. Marginal LR occurred in 5/147 patients (3%). LMD was found in 21/147 patients (14%; 3-year actuarial rate, 26%), and it was found more commonly in patients with resected cerebellar metastases (23%; 3-year actuarial rate, 46%) compared to those with cerebral metastases (11%; 3-year actuarial rate 17%) (HR 2.54, 95% CI 1.07–6.04, p = 0.034). Conclusions: This study examined patterns of recurrence after postoperative radiotherapy and its implications for radiation dose, radiation field size, and treatment sequence. Local control was high after total resection. Radiation field size appeared adequate given the low incidence of marginal recurrences. Patients with cerebellar metastases showed an increased risk of LMD, underscoring the need for preventive measures, particularly preoperative SRT.

From the US-SEER cancer registries, it appeared that radiation therapy (RT), administered between 1973 and 1982, resulted in an increased mortality rate up to 10-20 years after treatment for left-sided breast cancer (BC) patients [1]. Furthermore, Darby et al. reported that major cardiac events (MCE) incidence rates increased linearly with mean heart dose (MHD) by 7.4% relative per Gray [2]. Similar results were found in two Dutch and one Danish study [3-5]. Thereafter, MHD is used as a normative planning parameter in BC-RT in daily practice as well as in studies [6-8]. Recently, though, the presence of a dose-effect relationship was not confirmed [9, 10]. Therefore, we decided to evaluate whether a linear association between MHD and MCE-incidence rates still applies and noted: