A survival score for patients with brain metastases from less radiosensitive tumors treated with whole-brain radiotherapy alone.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop and validate a scoring system to predict the survival of patients receiving whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) alone for brain metastases from less radiosensitive tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included data from 176 patients with brain metastasis from renal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma or colorectal cancer. Patients were divided into a test group (N=88) and a validation group (N=88). In the multivariate analysis of the test group, age, Karnofsky Performance Status and extracranial metastasis were significantly associated with survival. These three factors were included in the scoring system. The score for each factor was determined by dividing the 6-month survival rate (in %) by 10. The total score represented the sum of the three scores. According to the total scores-which ranged from 5 to 14 points-three prognostic groups were created. RESULTS: The 6-month survival rates in the test group were 11% for 5-8 points (N=47, group A), 38% for 9-11 points (N=29, group B) and 83% for 12-14 points (N=12, group C). In the validation group the 6-month survival rates were 12, 31 and 75%, respectively. Comparisons between the prognostic groups A, B and C of the test group with those of the validation group did not reveal any significant differences. CONCLUSION: The new scoring system based on three independent prognostic factors can help to estimate the survival of patients with brain metastases from a less radiosensitive tumor. The score appears to be valid and reproducible.

Validation of a survival score for patients treated with whole-brain radiotherapy for brain metastases.

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to validate a scoring system published in 2008 to predict the survival of patients receiving whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) alone for brain metastases. METHODS: The scoring system included four independent prognostic factors: age, performance status, extracranial metastases, and interval between first diagnosis of cancer and WBRT. The score for each prognostic factor was determined by dividing the 6-month survival rate (in %) by 10. The total score represented the sum of the scores for each prognostic factor. Total scores ranged from 9-18 points, and patients were divided into four groups. In the present study, 350 new patients were evaluated in order to validate the previously developed score. RESULTS: In the present validation study, the 6-month survival rates were 8 % for patients with a score of 9-10 points (group A), 24 % for those with a score of 11-13 points (group B), 51 % for those with a score of 14-16 points (group C), and 82 % for those with scores of 17-18 points (group D), respectively (p < 0.001). In our previous study published in 2008, the 6-month survival rates were 6 %, 15 %, 43 %, and 76 %, respectively (p < 0.001). The comparisons between each of the four prognostic groups of both series did not reveal a significant difference. CONCLUSION: In this study, the 6-month survival rates of the four prognostic groups were not significantly different from those of the preceding study. This demonstrates the validity and reproducibility of this score. The score can help select the appropriate treatment for the individual patient and help design prospective trials.