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Systemic Therapy of Brain Metastases

  • Neuro-Oncology (LE Abrey, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Brain metastases are a common complication of cancer and continue to be associated with a poor prognosis. Management of brain metastases typically requires a multidisciplinary approach which may include whole-brain radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, surgery, and systemic therapy. Historically, the use of systemic therapy in brain metastases has been challenging because of the resistance to conventional chemotherapies secondary to the blood-brain barrier and an often heavily pre-treated patient population, and the paucity of well-conducted randomized trials in these heterogeneous patient populations. Newer agents, including immunotherapy and targeted therapies, are playing increasingly important roles in the up-front management of brain metastases. In this overview, we review recent advances in systemic therapies for brain metastases and the evidence supporting their use in this patient population.

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Conflict of Interest

Harry C. Brastianos and Priscilla K. Brastianos declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Daniel P. Cahill has received consultancy fees from Merck.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Harry C. Brastianos

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniel P. Cahill

  3. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Priscilla K. Brastianos

  4. Division of Neuro-Oncology, Stephen E. and Catherine Pappas Center for Neuro-Oncology, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey 9E, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Priscilla K. Brastianos

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  1. Harry C. Brastianos
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  2. Daniel P. Cahill
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Correspondence to Priscilla K. Brastianos.

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Daniel P. Cahill and Priscilla K. Brastianos contributed equally to this work.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Neuro-Oncology

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Brastianos, H.C., Cahill, D.P. & Brastianos, P.K. Systemic Therapy of Brain Metastases. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 15, 518 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-014-0518-9

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