TITLE:
Brain Metastases in Patients with Gynecologic Cancers: A Single Institution Experience and Review of the Literature
AUTHORS:
Madiha A. Gilani, Noelle L. Williams, Carolyn Giordano, Norman Rosenblum, Wenyin Shi, Pramila Anne, Russell J. Schilder
KEYWORDS:
Gynecologic Malignancies, Brain Metastasis, Prognostic Factors, Multimodality Therapy
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.6 No.9,
August
15,
2016
ABSTRACT: Objective: Brain Metastasis (BM) from primary gynecologic cancers is a
rare entity. The advances and successes in the treatment of primary gynecologic
malignancies, have led to prolonged survival and, a higher incidence of BM.
This study aims to report the experience at our institution in managing these
patients, and provide possible data points that may be essential to note as prognostic
factors, and see if our findings are consistent with the literature in this
subject. We also aim to provide a brief literature review of patients with
gynecologic cancers and BM. Methods: This is a small single institution
retrospective study of 23 patients with a gynecologic malignancy and BM,
identified between the years 2007-2015. Data were collected on variables
including patient demographics, disease and treatment. Results: The median
overall survival from the primary diagnosis was 28 months. Median time from
diagnosis of BM to death was 9 months. Conclusion: The outcomes in our study
are similar to what is stated in the current literature with regard to BM from
gynecologic malignancies. Our literature search also revealed that the molecular
analysis and treatment of the primary tumor remain important to prevent BMs. The
tendency of tumors to metastasize varies for one tumor type to another for the
same type of tumor. The tendency to develop BM may not only depend on risk
factors such as stage, grade, and histology, but also on the genetic profile of
the primary tumor. The study suggests that multimodal treatment of BM has
better outcomes in managing BM from gynecologic cancers.