Prognostic Factors and Treatment Effects in Patients With Curatively Resected Brain Metastasis From Colorectal Cancer

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer infrequently causes brain metastasis, and the prognosis is poor. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the prognostic factors associated with survival and outcome of treatment for patients with brain metastasis from colorectal cancer. DESIGN: This is a retrospective study from a prospectively collected database. SETTINGS: The investigation took place in a high-volume multidisciplinary tertiary cancer center in Japan. PATIENTS: From 1979 to 2010, 113 consecutive patients who were treated for brain metastasis from colorectal cancer were identified. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was overall survival. RESULTS: Sixty-three patients had neurosurgical resection (including curative resection for 46 patients) followed by whole brain radiotherapy, 9 had stereotactic radiosurgery, 30 had whole brain radiotherapy, and 11 had steroid and palliative care. As a whole, the overall median survival time from diagnosis of brain metastasis was 5.4 months (95% CI, 4.3-7.6 months), and the 1-year survival rate was 29% (95% CI, 22%-38%). In the group of patients who underwent curative neurosurgical resection, the overall median survival time was 15.2 months (95% CI, 9.2-17.8 months), and the 1-year survival rate was 57% (95% CI, 43%-71%). On multivariate analysis, 1 or 2 brain metastatic lesions, no extracranial metastatic lesions, and neurosurgical resection were independent favorable prognostic factors overall (p = 0.0057, 0.0197, and <0.0001), and 1 or 2 brain metastatic lesions, no extracranial metastatic lesion, and no emergence of secondary brain metastatic lesions were independent favorable prognostic factors in the group of patients who underwent curative neurosurgical resection (p = 0.0137, 0.0081, and 0.0010). LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its single-institute, retrospective, nonrandomized design and selection bias. CONCLUSIONS: Neurosurgical resection in select patients is a reasonable option for brain metastasis from colorectal cancer, although it is not associated with long-term (5-year) survival. (see Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/DCR/A121 )