Cancer that spreads to the brain from another part of the body such as lung or breast is called a metastatic brain tumor. As metastatic brain tumors grow, they can cause symptoms such as headaches, seizures and weakness or balance issues. In some patients, surgery and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) can help alleviate these symptoms in patients who have a limited number of tumors.
Despite what its name implies, SRS isn’t actually a surgery but instead involves highly focused radiation that targets tumors while minimizing the effects on surrounding healthy tissue. The treatment is often used after a patient undergoes surgery to remove brain tumors in a process called postoperative SRS. However, SRS can also be given before surgery, which is called preoperative SRS.
In a new study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute, researchers highlight improved outcomes for patients treated with preoperative SRS, particularly in rates of tumor recurrence, adverse radiation effects and spread of tumor cells to the fluid outside of the brain, which is called meningeal disease.
The study findings appear online today in JAMA Oncology.
“Postoperative SRS is currently the standard of care in these patients, but there is a growing body of research that shows preoperative SRS has advantages,” said Roshan Prabhu, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and an adjunct associate professor of radiation oncology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
According to Prabhu, who is the lead corresponding author of the study, there are multiple reasons why preoperative SRS may be better than postoperative SRS. In preoperative SRS, the tumor is intact, so providers can more precisely see the area that needs treatment.
