Tumor recurrence and survival following gamma knife surgery for brain metastases.

Abstract

The authors evaluated prognostic factors for tumor recurrence and patient survival following gamma knife surgery (GKS) for brain metastasis. A retrospective review of 101 patient charts was undertaken for those patients treated with GKS for brain metastases from 1994 to 2001. Recurrence rates of brain metastasis following GKS depended on the duration of patient survival. Long-term survival was associated with a higher risk of tumor recurrence and shorter-term survival was associated with a lower risk. The duration of survival following GKS for brain metastases seems to be characteristic of the primary disease rather than the cerebral disease. Recurrence rates of brain metastasis following GKS are related to duration of survival, which is in turn mostly dependent on the nature and course of the primary tumor.