Treatment trends for patients with brain metastases: Does practice reflect the data?. Issue 12 (8th February 2017) - Sandler, Kiri A.
Abstract : BACKGROUND: Published guidelines regarding the optimal treatment strategies for brain metastases focus on patients with ≤3 lesions. As delivery techniques for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) improve, radiation oncologists are increasingly using it for patients with >3 metastases. In the current study, the authors sought to characterize practice patterns among practitioners to identify areas of controversy. METHODS: A survey of practicing radiation oncologists was distributed via e‐mail. Responses were collected from April 1 to May 5, 2016. Survey data were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 711 currently practicing radiation oncologists responded, for a response rate of 12.5%. Specialists in central nervous system tumors (CNS specialists) were more likely to treat higher numbers of patients with brain metastases with SRS. There was a significant difference in the optimal "cutoff number" used when deciding how many lesions to treat with SRS versus whole‐brain radiotherapy. Cutoff numbers were significantly higher for high‐volume CNS specialists (≥10 patients/month) than for either low‐volume CNS specialists (5‐9 patients/month) or high‐volume, non‐CNS specialists (8.1 vs 5.6 and 5.1, respectively; P <.001). A majority of respondents (56%) identified patients with 4 to 6 brain metastases as being the most challenging patients to treat. CONCLUSIONS: To the authors' knowledge, there appears to be no consensus regarding the optimal treatment strategy among patients with >3 brain metastases, and practice patterns are heterogeneous. Radiation oncologists, especially high‐volume CNS specialists, are treating significantly more brain metastases with SRS than what currently is recommended by published consensus guidelines. Providers struggle with patients with a moderate intracranial disease burden. Further prospective studies are needed to support these practice patterns and guide decision making. Cancer 2017;123:2274–2282. © 2017 American Cancer Society . Abstract : A survey regarding treatment practices among patients with brain metastases was distributed to practicing radiation oncologists to determine how provider and patient characteristics influence treatment recommendations. The majority of providers, but especially central nervous system specialists or those who frequently treat patients with brain metastases, appear to be treating more patients with brain metastases using stereotactic radiosurgery than what is currently described in published practice guidelines, indicating a need for prospective studies to support this emerging practice pattern.