Lung cancer : journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Systemic chemotherapy after cranial irradiation in patients with brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective study.
Brain metastases (BMs) are found in about 10% of patients with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This retrospective study was conducted to assess the clinical outcomes and prognostic factors of patients who received chemotherapy after cranial irradiation for NSCLC with synchronous BMs. ⋯ Our results suggest that chemotherapy can be used to increase survival of patients treated with cranial irradiation for newly diagnosed NSCLC with synchronous BM. However, systemic chemotherapy should be carefully considered according to the patient's prognostic condition. Especially, patients with good performance status and limited number of BM may be good candidates for systemic chemotherapy after cranial irradiation.