Brain metastases the challenge of contemporary oncology

Abstract

Abstract Brain metastases (BM) represent the most common tumours of the central nervous system with ranged between 2.8 and 14.3 per 100.000. Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of brain metastases, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy only 2.4% of patients will survive 5 years. BM causes a wide spectrum of neurological symptoms, such as hemiparesis, impaired coordination or walking, aphasia, and seizures. Despite the effective treatment of the primary tumor, in many cases, it does not protect against brain metastases. The main source of BMs in adults is, in descending order, non-small cell lung cancer, followed by breast cancer and melanoma and then renal cancer. Some malignancies particularly tend to produce “late” or “delayed” cerebral metastasis years or even decades after the anti-cancer treatment has been accomplished. There is still a need to develop more effective treatments for cancer and metastases to the brain.