Efficacy and Safety of Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Brainstem Metastases: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Owing to the proximity to critical neurologic structures, treatment options for brainstem metastases (BSM) are limited, and BSM growth can cause acute morbidity or death. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is the only local therapy for BSM, but efficacy and safety of this approach are incompletely understood because patients with BSM are excluded from most clinical trials.

Objective

To perform a systematic review and comparative meta-analysis of SRS studies for BSM in the context of prospective trials of SRS or molecular therapy for nonbrainstem brain metastases (BM).

Data sources

A comprehensive search of Pubmed/MEDLINE and Embase was performed on December 6, 2019.

Study selection

English-language studies of SRS for BSM with at least 10 patients and re

SUBMITTER: Chen WC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8120444 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature