Brain Metastases from Gynecological Cancers: Factors that Affect Overall Survival

Abstract

We retrospectively reviewed factors that affected overall survival for patients with gynecological cancers that had metastasized to the brain. Between January 1985 to November 1999, we treated 25 patients with brain metastases from gynecological malignancies (cervix n=6, endometrium n=10, and ovary n=9). Various patient and tumor characteristics were identified and analyzed for their significance. Median age was 46 years old (range, 37–78 years) with the majority of tumors being adenocarcinoma (20/25 patients). The treatment consisted of whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) in 11 patients, focal therapy (surgery and/or stereotactic radiosurgery [SRS]) in 6 patients, and combination therapy (WBRT and surgery and/or SRS) in 8 patients and resulted in median survivals of 6 months, 7 months and 11 months, respectively. Overall median survival was 7.3 months (range, 1 to 88 months). Cause of death was systemic in 9, neurologic in 8 and progression of primary in 2. Those with single lesions had better median survivals compared to those with multiple lesions (17 months vs. 3 months, p=0.017). Our results suggest that patients with a single lesion had improved outcomes. We encourage enrollment of patients with brain metastases onto prospective clinical trials.