Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the growth kinetics of metastatic brain tumors during chemotherapy and to analyze growth rates and volumetric doubling time of metastatic brain tumors in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with tumor regrowth.
Methods: NSCLC patients with minimally symptomatic brain metastases who were not treated previously were enrolled. Serial magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 30 metastatic brain tumors in 19 patients were reviewed. Tumor growth rates and volumetric tumor doubling time of tumor regrowth were estimated. All patients were treated with front-line chemotherapy until disease progression.
Results: The median tumor growth rate was 12.10 mm(3)/day (interquartile range [IQR], 3.09-36.75). The volume percentage increase/day was 1.67 (IQR, 0.69-4.59). The median volumetric tumor doubling time was 58.48 days (IQR, 32.33-98.48).
Conclusions: These findings may help optimize patient management during follow-up. Study results indicated that brain MRI should be obtained at a minimum of 2-month intervals to screen for metastatic brain tumors.
(c) 2008 American Cancer Society.