BACKGROUND: Improvements in therapies have led to an increasing number of long-term survivors of brain metastases. The present series compares a population of 5-year survivors of brain metastases to a generalized brain metastases population to assess for factors attributable to long-term survival.
METHODS: A single institution retrospective review was performed to identify 5-year survivors of brain metastases who received stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). A historical control population of 737 patients with brain metastases was used to assess similarities and differences between the long-term survivor population and the general population treated with SRS.
RESULTS: A total of 98 patients with brain metastases were found to have survived over 60 months. No differences between long-term survivors and controls were identified with regards to the age at first SRS (
CONCLUSION: Five-year survivors of brain metastases represent a diverse histologic population, suggesting a small population of oligometastatic and indolent cancers exist for each cancer type
