The Efficacy of Postoperative Chemotherapy for Patients with Metastatic Brain Tumors from Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of postoperative chemotherapy on recurrence and survival in patients after resection of metastatic brain tumors from non-small cell lung cancers. Methods Patients who went through resection of a single metastatic brain tumor from non-small cell lung cancer from July 2001 to December 2012 were reviewed. Those selected were 77 patients who survived more than 3 months after surgery were selected. Among them, 44 patients received various postoperative systemic chemotherapies, 33 patients received postoperative adjuvant whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). Local/distant recurrence rate, local/distant recurrence free survival, disease free survival (DFS), and overall survival were compared between the two groups. Results Among the 77 patients, there were 19 (24.7%) local recurrences. Local recurrence occurred in 7 (21.2%) of 33 patients in the adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) group and in 12 (27.3%) of the 44 patients in the chemotherapy group (p=0.542). Among the 77 patients, there were 34 (44.1%) distant recurrences. Distant recurrence occurred in 7 (21.2%) of the 33 patients in the adjuvant RT group and in 27 (61.4%) of the 44 patients in the chemotherapy group (p