Utilization of Prognostic Indexes for Patients with Brain Metastases in Daily Radiotherapy Routine -â is the Complexity and Intricacy Still an Issue?
Klin Onkol
; 28(5): 352-8, 2015.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26480863
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Many prognostic indexes are available for patients with brain metastases in order to estimate remaining lifetime before selection of appropriate treatment including palliative radiotherapy. Their routine utilization is often deprecated for their complexity. We developed a practical tool based on widely available spreadsheet editors for facilitation of daily clinical use of selected indexes (RPA, GPA and WBRTâ30) and evaluated its usage for retrospective single institutional survival analysis of patients irradiated for brain metastases. PATIENTS ANDMETHODS:
Spreadsheet platform was prepared and adjusted for automatic calculation of selected prognostic indexes after input of the relevant parameters. The consecutive series of newly diagnosed patients referred during 2011 to the palliative brain radiotherapy were analyzed, and real calculated survival parameters of individual subgroups of RPA, GPA and WBRTâ30 were compared with estimated ones. Correlation of radiotherapy technique and estimated survival at the time of treatment indication was evaluated.RESULTS:
Total of 121 patients (61% with multiple metastases) were irradiated with the majority undergoing whole brain radiotherapy. Median overall survival from the time of radiotherapy indication was 3.13 months. Nonâbalanced distribution into individual scoring systems subgroups was observed with 8 (7%), 89 (73%) and 24 (20%) patients assigned to RPA 1, 2 and 3 subgroup, 3 (3%), 9 (7%), 57 (47%) and 52 (43%) patients assigned to GPA 3.5-â4, GPA 3.0, GPA 1.5-â2.5 and GPA 0-â1.0 subgroup and 10 (8%), 88 (73%) and 23 (19%) patients assigned to WBRTâ30 subgroup D, B and A. Entire differences in overall survival between subgroups are significant among all three scoring systems.CONCLUSION:
Routine calculation of available prognostic indexes is useful in decision making regarding the best radiotherapy of brain metastases, and their calculation is greatly facilitated by properly prepared widely available spreadsheet tools.
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Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Brain Neoplasms
/
Cranial Irradiation
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Klin Onkol
Journal subject:
NEOPLASIAS
Year:
2015
Type:
Article