Work

Treatment Outcome of Brain Metastases from Breast Cancer Following Gamma Knife Radiosurgery: A Retrospective Study in Vietnam

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background Gamma Knife radiosurgery has proven to be highly effective for small brain lesions and those with a limited number of metastases. This study aimed to evaluate the treatment outcome of Gamma Knife radiosurgery in Vietnamese breast cancer patients with brain metastasis. Methods This retrospective descriptive study included 75 patients treated between January 2019 and December 2023. Eligible patients had 1 to 5 brain lesions ≤ 3 cm, a Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score of ≥ 60, and no prior whole-brain radiotherapy or brain tumor resection. Clinical characteristics were documented, and imaging responses were evaluated using RECIST criteria. Overall survival (OS), brain-specific progression-free survival (BSPFS), and overall response rates were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox regression. Results Seventy-five patients were included in the study, with a median follow-up time of 15.9 months. The median age was 53.0 years (range: 29-73 years), and 39 patients (52%) were HER2-positive. The median total tumor volume per patient was 3.78 cm 3 . A total of 152 brain tumors were identified, of which 131 (86.2%) were <2 cm in diameter, 36 patients (48.0%) had a single lesion. The intracranial tumor control rates were 96% at 3 months and 92.5% at 6 months. The median overall survival (OS) was 17.2 months (range: 13.7-20.7 months). Multivariate analysis revealed that the total volume of metastatic lesions ≤7.0 cm 3 , hormone receptor negativity, ≤ 3 lines of systemic treatment before brain metastasis and controlled extracranial metastases were correlated with both BSPFS and OS. Conclusion Gamma Knife radiosurgery is an effective treatment for limited brain metastases, demonstrating a high rate of local control over brain lesions, which contributed to the promising survival outcome in Vietnamese breast cancer patients.

Source: Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment

DOI: 10.1177/15330338251328522