PURPOSE To study the efficacy of whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) with radiosensitizer in comparison with WBRT alone for patients with brain metastases in terms of overall survival, disease progression, response to treatment and adverse effects of treatment. METHODS A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT) was performed in order to compare WBRT with radiosensitizer for brain metas...

1960 www.thelancet.com Vol 388 October 22, 2016 Radiation oncologists are often challenged because of the paucity of randomised trials supporting their clinical practice. In terms of brain metastases treatment, it should be emphasised that there have been fi ve randomised trials assessing whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT): four studies assessing stereotactic radio therapy with or without WBRT for...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether second whole-brain irradiation is beneficial for patients previously treated with whole-brain irradiation. METHODS A retrospective analysis was done for 31 patients with brain metastases who had undergone re-irradiation. Initial whole-brain irradiation was performed with 30 Gy/10 fractions for 87% of these patients. Whole-brain re-irradiation was performed with ...

BACKGROUND Survival of patients with brain metastasis particularly from historically more radio-resistant malignancies remains dismal. A phase I study of concurrent bortezomib and whole brain radiotherapy was conducted to determine the tolerance and safety of this approach in patients with previously untreated brain metastasis. METHODS A phase I dose escalation study evaluated the safety of b...

Nine out of 14 patients treated with intraventricular methotrexate (MTX) for meningeal carcinomatosis from breast carcinoma and surviving more than 4 months developed disseminated necrotising leukoencephalopathy (DNL). All four patients who had received both intraventricular MTX and whole brain radiotherapy developed DNL. Five of the six patients who experienced an acute febrile reaction with m...