OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to analyze the clinical features and prognostic factors in patients with brain metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRC).

METHODSClinical materials of 45 colorectal cancer patients who developed brain metastasis were collected, and the data and follow-up data of those patients were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSMost brain metastases were from rectal cancer (64.4%), and 80.0% of the 45 cases had extracranial metastases. The most common extracranial metastatic site was the lung (57.8%), followed by the liver (35.6%). All the brain metastases in patients with liver metastases were supratentorial, while in contrast, 44.8% of the patients without liver metastasis had subtentorial metastasis, showing a significant difference between them (P<0.05). The interval time from diagnosis of CRC to the development of brain metastases in case of Dukes D stage was 12.0 months, significantly shorter than that in the cases of Dukes A stage (24.0 months), B (36.0 months) and C (29.0 months) (P<0.05). The interval time was also shorter in the patients who developed extracranial metastasis within one year than those more than one year (12.0 months vs. 38.0 months)( P<0.05). The median survival time of patients with brain metastasis from colorectal was 6.0 months, with a 1-year survival rate of 21.1% and 2-year survival rate of 3.3% only. Univariate analysis showed that the median survival of patients with a KPS score of ≥70 was 8.0 months, significantly higher than 2.0 months in those with a KPS score of <70 (P<0.05). The median survival of patients with one or two brain metastases was 8.0 months, significantly higher than 4.0 months of those with >2 brain metastases (P<0.05). The median survival time after diagnosis of brain metastasis was 4.0 months for those who received monotherapy (only steroids, only chemotherapy or only radiotherapy), significantly shorter than 10.0 months of patients who received chemoradiotherapy, and 12.0 months of those who underwent surgery (P<0.05). Comparing each two differently treated groups, the survival time of surgery combined with chemotherapy or radiotherapy group was significantly different from that of all of other groups (P<0.05). The median survival time of chemoradiotherapy group was longer than that of monotherapy, but the difference was not significant (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that brain metastases >2 and treatment modality type are independent prognostic factors for survival.

CONCLUSIONSPatients initially diagnosed with a Dukes D stage primary colorectal tumor and occurrence of extracranial metastasis (especially, pulmonary metastasis) within one year are associated to an increased risk of brain metastases and have a shorter survival time. Most brain metastases in patients with liver metastases are supratentorial, while many patients without liver metastasis have subtentorial metastasis. Brain metastases >2 and the type of treatment modality are independent prognostic factors for survival. The prognosis of patients who received chemoradiotherapy is better than those treated only with chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Some subsets of patients may benefit from surgery plus chemotherapy/radiotherapy.

Brain Neoplasms ; mortality ; secondary ; therapy ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; secondary ; Lung Neoplasms ; secondary ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Rectal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Time Factors

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to compare the survival time of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with different organ metastasis. Among all cancers, the morbidity and mortality of lung cancer is the highest worldwide, which may caused by local recurrence and distant metastasis, and the location of metastasis may predict the prognosis of patients. METHODS: A total of 117,542 patients with NSCLC diagnosed between 2010 and 2014 were enrolled from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) databases, and the relationship between distant metastasis and survival time was retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Of all the 117,542 patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, 42,071 (35.8%) patients had different degrees of distant metastasis during their medical history, including 26,932 single organ metastases and 15,139 multiple organ metastases, accounting for 64.0% and 36.0% of the metastatic patients respectively. Compared with patients with no metastasis, whose median survival time was 21 months, the median survival time of patients with metastases was 7 months (lung), 6 months (brain), 5 months (bone), 4 months (liver), and 3 months (multiple organ) respectively, and the difference was significant (P<0.001, except liver vs multiple organ P=0.650); Most patients with NSCLC (88.4%) eventually died of lung cancer. CONCLUSIONS Distant metastasis of NSCLC patients indicates poor prognosis. In NSCLC patients with single organ metastasis, the prognosis of lung metastasis is the best, and liver metastasis is the worst, and multiple organ metastasis is worse than single organ metastasis.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Bone Neoplasms ; mortality ; secondary ; Brain Neoplasms ; mortality ; secondary ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; mortality ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; mortality ; secondary ; Lung Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

Fibromyalgia syndrome after comprehensive treatment of breast cancer is rare and seldom reported. Here we present a case of a 50-year-old female patient,who was admitted to the hospital because of generalized fibromyalgia for 3 months and brain metastasis after the right breast carcinoma surgery for 1 month, and the clinical diagnosis was brain metastasis from breast carcinoma combined with fibromyalgia syndrome. The fibromyalgia were relieved with proper symptomatic treatment but the patient eventually died of tumor progression.
Brain Neoplasms ; mortality ; secondary ; Breast Neoplasms ; complications ; mortality ; therapy ; Carcinoma ; mortality ; therapy ; Female ; Fibromyalgia ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Humans ; Middle Aged

Brain Neoplasms ; mortality ; secondary ; Ethmoid Sinus ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Cavity ; pathology ; Nose Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prognostic factors of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and establish a reliable model of clinical prognostic index.

METHODSKaplan-Meier and Cox regression were used to analyze the relationship between survival time and prognostic factors in 60 cases of SCLC. The prognostic factors included clinical and laboratory parameters, serum cytokeratin fragment 19 (CYFRA21-1), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), CA125, interleukin-2 (IL-2) and soluble interleukin-2 receptors (sIL-2R).

RESULTSKaplan-Meier analysis showed that poor prognosis was in patients with KPS < 80 or extensive disease and unrelated to other clinical parameters such as age, sex and smoking index, and in patients with serum NSE > 30 micro g/L, CEA > 5.0 micro g/L, CA125 > 37 KU/L and sIL-2R > 500 KU/L. Serum IL-2 and CYFRA21-1 were also elevated, but had no significant prognostic value. Multivariate analysis indicated that serum NSE, stage and treatment of disease were independent prognostic factors. The three prognostic factors enabled establishment of a prognostic index (PI) based on a simple algorithm: PI = NSE (0 if < or = 30 micro g/L, 1 if > 30 microg/L) + stage (0 = LD, 1 = ED) + CEA (0 if < or = 5.0 microg/L, 1 if > 5.0 microg/L).

CONCLUSIONThe stage of disease, systemic treatment and the level of serum NSE are independent prognostic factors. Without considering the influence of treatment-related factors on survival, the levels of serum CEA, NSE and stage of disease before treatment are significant independent prognostic factors. PI calculated on the basis of CEA, NSE and stage is recommended to predict the survival of SCLC.

Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Brain Neoplasms ; secondary ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; mortality ; secondary ; therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; secondary ; Lung Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Survival Rate

In the patients with brain metastasis (BM), it is impossible to determine who will benefit from surgery because of limited survival. In an attempt to identify optimal candidates for brain metastatectomy, we analyzed patients who survived for <3 months after craniotomy for a single BM lesion. Between January 1st, 1997 and July 31st, 2007, 83 patients with a single BM underwent craniotomy. Of these patients, 25 patients (30.1%) died within 3 months of craniotomy. The primary lesions were non-small call lung cancer in 15, colon cancer in 6, and breast cancer, renal cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, or esophageal cancer in one apiece. Of the 25 patients, 19 (79%) were of tumor stage IV and had extra-cranial metastasis. Eleven (44%) of the 25 primary cancers had a well-controlled status. Twelve patients (48%) had a Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score of <70, and 13 (52%) were of Recursive Partitioning Analysis (RPA) class 3. Primary cancer status, RPA class, and functional status were found to be critical factors for consideration when selecting surgical candidates. In addition, adjuvant therapy was found to have an important role on survival.
Adult ; Aged ; Brain Neoplasms/mortality/*secondary/*surgery ; Craniotomy ; Data Interpretation, Statistical ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Survival Analysis

This study analyzes the clinical characteristics of the brain metastasis (BM) of gynecologic cancer based on the type of cancer. In addition, the study examines the factors influencing the survival. Total 61 BM patients of gynecologic cancer were analyzed retrospectively from January 2000 to December 2012 in terms of clinical and radiological characteristics by using medical and radiological records from three university hospitals. There were 19 (31.1%) uterine cancers, 32 (52.5%) ovarian cancers, and 10 (16.4%) cervical cancers. The mean interval to BM was 25.4 months (21.6 months in ovarian cancer, 27.8 months in uterine cancer, and 33.1 months in cervical cancer). The mean survival from BM was 16.7 months (14.1 months in ovarian cancer, 23.3 months in uterine cancer, and 8.8 months in cervical cancer). According to a multivariate analysis of factors influencing survival, type of primary cancer, Karnofsky performance score, status of primary cancer, recursive partitioning analysis class, and treatment modality, particularly combined therapies, were significantly related to the overall survival. These results suggest that, in addition to traditional prognostic factors in BM, multiple treatment methods such as neurosurgery and combined chemoradiotherapy may play an important role in prolonging the survival for BM patients of gynecologic cancer.
Adult ; Aged ; Brain/*pathology ; Brain Neoplasms/*mortality/*secondary/therapy ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Female ; Genital Neoplasms, Female/*mortality/pathology/therapy ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Ovarian Neoplasms/mortality/pathology/therapy ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/mortality/pathology/therapy ; Uterine Neoplasms/mortality/pathology/therapy ; Young Adult

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the pattern of recurrence after complete resection of pathological stage I, II non-small cell lung cancer, especially according to the cell type. We reviewed the clinical records of 525 patients operated on for pathologic stage I and II lung cancer. The histologic type was found to be squamous in 253 and non-squamous in 229 patients. Median follow-up period was 40 months. Recurrences were identified in 173 (36%) of 482 enrolled patients; distant metastasis in 70%, distant and local recurrence in 11%, and local recurrence in 19%. Distant metastasis was more common in non-squamous than in squamous cell carcinoma (p=0.044). Brain metastasis was more frequently identified in non-squamous mthan in squamous cell carcinoma (24.2% vs. 7.3%. p=0.005). Multivariate analyses showed that cell type is the significant risk factor for recurrence-free survival in stage I and stage II non-small cell lung cancer. Recurrence-free survival curves showed that non-squamous cell carcinoma had similar risks during early periods of follow-up and more risks after 2 yr from the operation compared to squamous cell carcinoma. Pathological stage and histologic type significantly influence recurrence-free survival.
Brain Neoplasms/mortality/secondary ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/*mortality/*pathology/surgery ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/mortality/pathology/surgery ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/*mortality/*pathology/surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/mortality/pathology ; Neoplasm Staging/*mortality ; Pneumonectomy ; Risk Factors ; Survival Analysis

PURPOSE: Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and simultaneously having brain metastases at the initial diagnosis, presenting symptoms related brain metastasis, survived shorter duration and showed poor quality of life. We analyzed our experiences on surgical treatment of brain metastasis in patients with NSCLC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a single-center, retrospective review of 36 patients with NSCLC and synchronous brain metastases between April 2006 and December 2011. Patients were categorized according to the presence of neurological symptoms and having a brain surgery. As a result, 14 patients did not show neurological symptoms and 22 patients presented neurological symptoms. Symptomatic 22 patients were divided into two groups according to undergoing brain surgery (neurosurgery group; n=11, non-neurosurgery group; n=11). We analyzed overall surgery (OS), intracranial progression-free survival (PFS), and quality of life. RESULTS: Survival analysis showed there was no difference between patients with neurosurgery (OS, 12.1 months) and non-neurosurgery (OS, 10.2 months; p=0.550). Likewise for intracranial PFS, there was no significant difference between patients with neurosurgery (PFS, 6.3 months) and non-neurosurgery (PFS, 5.3 months; p=0.666). Reliable neurological one month follow up by the Medical Research Council neurological function evaluation scale were performed in symptomatic 22 patients. The scale improved in eight (73%) patients in the neurosurgery group, but only in three (27%) patients in the non-neurosurgery group (p=0.0495). CONCLUSION: Patients with NSCLC and synchronous brain metastases, presenting neurological symptoms showed no survival benefit from neurosurgical resection, although quality of life was improved due to early control of neurological symptoms.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Brain Neoplasms/physiopathology/*secondary/*surgery ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/mortality/*pathology ; Demography ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lung Neoplasms/*pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

We retrospectively analyzed the prognostic factors on overall survival (OS) in patients with brain metastasis (BM) and evaluated the role of combined primary tumor and extracranial metastasis (ECM) status as a constituent factor for prognostic index. This study involved 897 patients with BMs who underwent radiotherapy between April 2003 and December 2009. Among the clinical parameters, multivariate analysis showed that age, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), combined primary tumor and ECM status, number of BMs, and treatment group were significant prognostic factors for OS (P < 0.05). To compare the discriminatory ability of 5 prognostic indices, i.e., recursive partitioning analysis (RPA), basic score for BMs (BSBM), score index for radiosurgery (SIR), graded prognostic assessment (GPA), and modified GPA including the combined primary tumor and ECM status (mGPA), the Akaike information criteria (AIC) were calculated. The mGPA showed the lowest AIC value, followed by RPA, GPA, SIR, and BSBM, in that order. It is implicated that modified score of pre-existing factors (i.e., age and KPS) and addition of the combined primary tumor and ECM status to the prognostic index can improve its discriminatory ability and the combined primary tumor and ECM status may be useful as one of constituent factors for prognostic index.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Brain Neoplasms/*mortality/radiotherapy/secondary ; Breast Neoplasms/pathology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Karnofsky Performance Status ; Lung Neoplasms/pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Analysis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed