Outcome assessment of intraoperative radiotherapy for brain metastases: results of a prospective observational study with comparative matched-pair analysis

PURPOSE: Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is an emerging alternative to adjuvant stereotactic external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) following resection of brain metastases (BM). Advantages of IORT include an instant prevention of tumor regrowth, optimized dose-sparing of adjacent healthy brain tissue and immediate completion of BM treatment, allowing an earlier admission to subsequent systemic treatments. However, prospective outcome data are limited. We sought to assess long-term outcome of IORT in comparison to EBRT. METHODS: A total of 35 consecutive patients, prospectively recruited within a study registry, who received IORT following BM resection at a single neuro-oncological center were evaluated for radiation necrosis (RN) incidence rates, local control rates (LCR), distant brain progression (DBP) and overall survival (OS) as long-term outcome parameters. The 1 year-estimated OS and survival rates were compared in a balanced comparative matched-pair analysis to those of our institutional database, encompassing 388 consecutive patients who underwent adjuvant EBRT after BM resection. RESULTS: The median IORT dose was 30 Gy prescribed to the applicator surface. A 2.9% RN rate was observed. The estimated 1 year-LCR was 97.1% and the 1 year-DBP-free survival 73.5%. Median time to DBP was 6.4 (range 1.7–24) months in the subgroup of patients experiencing intracerebral progression. The median OS was 17.5 (0.5-not reached) months with a 1 year-survival rate of 61.3%, which did not not significantly differ from the comparative cohort (p = 0.55 and p = 0.82, respectively). CONCLUSION: IORT is a safe and effective fast-track approach following BM resection, with comparable long-term outcomes as adjuvant EBRT. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11060-023-04380-w.