Abstract
Background: It is unclear whether patients undergoing trimodality therapy (TMT) should be screened or surveyed for brain metastases. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed esophageal cancer (EC) patients who underwent TMT between the years 2000 and 2010. All were systematically staged and surveyed but none had screening or surveillance brain imaging. Results: The median follow-up time for 518 patients was 29.3 months (range 1-149.2); all patients had adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Of 188 (36.3%) patients who developed distant metastases, 20 (10.6% of 188 patients or 3.9% of 518 patients) had brain metastases. A higher baseline clinical stage (stage III or IVa) was associated with brain metastases. Most (90%) patients with brain metastases were diagnosed within 24 months of surgery. Sixteen patients had central nervous system symptoms at diagnosis. Twelve (60%) patients had solitary metastasis and 8 (40%) patients had multiple metastases. Although 17 patients received therapy for brain metastases, the median overall survival time of 20 patients was only 10.5 months (95% CI 6.6-14.0). Conclusion: After TMT, 3.9% of EC patients developed brain metastases and their prognosis was poor. Our data suggest that screening and/or surveillance for brain metastases in the EC population undergoing TMT is not warranted.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 204-207 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Oncology (Switzerland) |
Volume | 85 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- Brain metastases
- Distant metastases
- Esophageal cancer
- Gastroesophageal cancer
- Surveillance after local therapy
- Trimodality therapy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research
MD Anderson CCSG core facilities
- Clinical Trials Office