KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to develop a prognostic score for palliative patients with BMs undergoing WBRT in a novel setting.
- METASNCore items correlate with OS, aiding in palliative patient selection for WBRT. Further studies are required.
Palliative whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) remains a primary approach for managing multiple brain metastases (BMs). Recent research indicates no survival advantage with WBRT over supportive care alone in patients facing poor prognoses with brain cancer. A new frontier of systemic treatments, centered on targeted therapies, is enhancing outcomes for individuals with BMs.
Pablo Flores-Paco and the team aimed to create a prognostic score for palliative patients with BMs undergoing WBRT in a novel context.
Researchers examined 239 patients with BMs who underwent palliative whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) at their center between 2013 and 2022. They devised a prognostic score based on the β coefficient value of each statistically significant variable identified in a multivariate Cox regression model. Following the establishment of the score, they conducted comparisons using Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank tests.
Of 149 patients (62.3%), male and female were represented, with a median age of 60 years. Lung cancer accounted for 139 cases (58.2%), while breast cancer was observed in 35 patients (14.6%). All individuals underwent 30 Gy in 10 sessions. The median overall survival (mOS) was 3.74 months.
A specific target mutation was present in 37 patients (15.5%). Patients were categorized into groups based on their scores that were <4 points (62 patients, mOS 6.89 months [95% CI 3.18–10.62]), 4–7 points (84 patients, mOS 4.01 months [95% CI 3.40–4.62]), and >7 points (92 patients, mOS 2.72 months [95% CI 1.93–3.52]) (P< 0.001).
The association of METASNCore items with OS suggests their potential utility in guiding the selection of palliative patients for WBRT. Further research is warranted to validate these results.
The authors state that they did not receive any funds, grants, or additional support for this study.
Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11060-024-04618-1
Flores-Paco, P., Vargas-Aliaga, A., Guevara, M.G. et al. “A new updated prognostic index for patients with brain metastases (BMs) treated with palliative whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) in the era of precision oncology. METASNCore project.” J Neurooncol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-024-04618-1.
