AFTER BRAIN-METASTASIS SURGERY, THREE TO FIVE RADIATION SESSIONS BEAT ONE.
A small scheduling change produced a surprisingly large clinical difference.
MORE SESSIONS. MORE TIME.
Giving stereotactic radiosurgery in several fractions after removal of a large brain metastasis improved local control and was linked to longer survival in a randomized Phase 3 trial.
WHAT HAPPENED
Researchers assigned 242 patients to receive either a single session or three to five sessions after surgery. At one year, 87% of patients in the fractionated group remained free of recurrence at the surgical site, compared with 81% in the single-session group. Median overall survival was 29 months versus 20 months, with similarly low adverse-event rates.
WHY THIS IS HOPESLOP
Sometimes progress is not a futuristic new machine. It is finding a better rhythm for a treatment hospitals already know how to deliver—and giving people more time with it.
ORIGINAL SOURCEAmerican Society for Radiation OncologyRead the original report
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