The hazards of radiotherapy for brain metastasis of lung cancer

Brain metastasis is a common metastasis of lung cancer. People often think that brain metastasis is the most serious metastasis because it is very difficult to treat the brain and important nerves in the skull are very important to the patient's quality of life. Currently, radiotherapy is more commonly used in clinical treatment of brain metastasis of lung cancer. So, what are the hazards of radiotherapy for brain metastasis of lung cancer?

How is radiotherapy for brain metastases from lung cancer?

Brain metastasis is a common disease in lung cancer. Lung cancer patients with brain metastasis often experience unexplained headaches, vomiting, visual impairment, and personality and temper changes. Brain metastasis is common in small cell lung cancer and adenocarcinoma type lung cancer. Although the widespread use of brain CT has discovered many asymptomatic patients with brain metastasis, which has bought time for treatment, many lung cancer patients still die from brain metastasis.

In the past decade, people have realized that whole-brain radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy can improve the survival of patients with brain metastases, and many drugs can enter the brain. Currently, the comprehensive treatment of brain metastases with lung cancer using radiotherapy, surgery, and chemotherapy has become a research hotspot.

Whole-brain radiotherapy has become the standard treatment for brain metastases, especially for patients with multiple brain metastases and those who are older and in poor general condition. Whole-brain radiotherapy can effectively improve patients’ neurological symptoms and functions, improve their quality of life and median survival by 3 to 6 months.

The main toxic and side effects of whole-brain radiotherapy are radiation encephalopathy, lethargy, neurological dysfunction, dementia, etc., and long-term survivors have delayed effects. Therefore, the necessity of whole-brain preventive irradiation is controversial. The biological characteristics of small cell lung cancer are different from those of non-small cell lung cancer. The incidence of brain metastasis of small cell lung cancer reaches 8% after 2 years, so some people advocate whole-brain preventive radiotherapy. However, randomized studies have shown that whole-brain preventive radiotherapy reduces the incidence of brain metastasis, but does not increase the 5-year survival rate. Whole-brain preventive radiotherapy is only used for patients with radical surgery for small cell lung cancer and those who achieve complete remission through radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Warm reminder: The above is some introduction to radiotherapy for brain metastasis of lung cancer. In addition, patients should be reminded that after brain metastasis of lung cancer, if the surgical indicators are met, doctors will still recommend surgical treatment. When most patients are no longer suitable for surgery, they will receive some auxiliary therapies such as radiotherapy and biological therapy.