Patients with the age of 75 years and above and suffering with brain metastases respond as well as the younger patients to the Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS)

Patients with the age of 75 years and above and suffering with brain metastases respond as well as the younger patients to the Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS); this is according to a recent research published in the August 15th issue of Cancer.

The authors explain that several studies have in some way or the other demonstrated the survival advantage of treating brain metastases with SRS, but till date there has never been a detailed examination of the utility of SRS treatment in patients above the age of 65 years.

Dr. Se-Hyuk Kim of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, and her colleagues performed a retrospective analysis of 44 patients who are at least 75 years old and who suffered with brain metastases and treated with SRS treatment.

Median overall survival rate among them was seven months from diagnosis of brain metastases. The authors also report the actuarial survival rates were 86.4% at three months, 68.2% at six months, forty five percent at nine months, and 34.1% at twelve months.

The report has indicated that the median survival rate was longer in patients suffering with single brain metastasis than in patients suffering with 2 or more brain metastases.

By Jennifer Larson
radRounds.com Staff Writer
October 13, 2008