ABSTRACT
The development of brain metastasis greatly influences the outlook for patients with cancer. Brain metastases may be the first sign of metastatic disease or even be the first sign of cancer. Once brain metastases are present, survival is often limited to months. Today, knowledge of prognostic factors-which has been provided by large studies-allows individually tailored treatment. Irradiation of the whole brain is an important therapeutic option for patients with adverse prognostic factors. Others may benefit from surgery or stereotactic radiotherapy (radiosurgery) and survive for up to one year or longer. The increasing availability of therapeutic options such as stereotactic radiotherapy and chemotherapy has offered new opportunities for the treatment of brain metastasis especially in patients with favorable prognostic factors. In this chapter, the current evidence on the proper treatment of brain metastasis is presented while focusing on both survival and quality of life.
