Non-small cell lung cancer neuroresection of the solitary intracranial metastasis followed by radiochemotherapy

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Abstract
Fifteen selected patients with advanced intrathoracic non-small cell lung cancer and solitary metastasis were treated by a combined program including craniotomy, brain and chest irradiation, and systemic chemotherapy. One patient died because of cerebral hemorrhage after the operation. Five patients failed to achieve neurologic benefit. Nine patients improved their neurologic grading, and the median duration of improvement was 10 months (range, 1-26 months). The responses to systemic treatment were: one complete response, three partial responses, six stable disease responses, and four progressive disease responses. The overall median survival was 6 months from craniotomy and 12 months from diagnosis. Five patients became long survivors; they had a survival time ranging between 12 and 26 months after craniotomy. In conclusion, one third of patients had a satisfactory response to treatment; this outlines the value of the combined aggressive therapeutic approach also performed in patients who had a highly unfavorable prognoses.