Outcome of surgical resection for brain metastases and radical treatment of the primary tumor in Chinese non–small-cell lung cancer patients

PURPOSE: Brain metastasis is the most common complication of brain cancer; nevertheless, primary lung cancer accounts for approximately 20%–40% of brain metastases cases. Surgical resection is the preferred treatment for brain metastases. However, no studies have reported the outcome of surgical resection of brain metastases from non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the People’s Republic of China. Moreover, the optimal treatment for primary NSCLC in patients with synchronous brain metastases is hitherto controversial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the cases of NSCLC patients with brain metastases who underwent neurosurgical resection at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, and assessed the efficacy of surgical resection and the necessity of aggressive treatment for primary NSCLC in synchronous brain metastases patients. RESULTS: A total of 62 patients, including 47 men and 15 women, with brain metastases from NSCLC were enrolled in the study. The median age at the time of craniotomy was 54 years (range 29–76 years). At the final follow-up evaluation, 50 patients had died. The median OS time was 15.1 months, and the survival rates were 70% and 37% at 1 and 2 years, respectively. The median OS time of synchronous brain metastases patients was 12.5 months. Univariate analysis revealed that radical treatment of primary NSCLC was positively correlated with survival, and it was an independent prognostic factor in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Surgical resection is an effective treatment for brain metastases. Besides craniotomy, radical therapy is necessary for the management of primary NSCLC in patients with synchronous brain metastases.