Improved palliation of cerebral metastases in epithelial ovarian cancer using a combined modality approach including radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery.

Purpose: Recent reports suggest an increasing incidence of CNS metastases in patients with ovarian cancer. We reviewed our experience in the management of brain metastases from ovarian carcinoma and merged our results with those of several other series reported in the literature to determine prognostic factors and the role of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery.

Patients And Methods: From 1977 to 1990, 15 of 795 patients who were treated for epithelial ovarian cancer at Duke University developed brain metastases. Fourteen of the patients were treated for their brain metastases; this included radiation therapy (RT; four), surgery and RT (one), RT and systemic chemotherapy (six), and all three treatment modalities (three). A meta-analysis was performed that combined the data from the current series with those of several recent clinical series that reviewed patients with brain metastases from ovarian carcinoma (67 patients total) to elucidate the impact of treatment and extent of disease on survival.

Results: In the current series, median survival (MS) after the diagnosis of brain metastases was 9 months. For the combined series, MS was 5 months. Thirteen patients who were treated with whole-brain RT and systemic chemotherapy (MS, 7 months), 10 patients who were treated with RT and surgery (MS, 10 months), and nine patients who were treated with all three modalities (MS, 16.5 months) had significantly longer survival than 19 patients who were treated with RT alone (MS, 3 months) (P = .05, P = .01, and P < .001, respectively). In a multivariate analysis, the only variable that provided prognostic information was treatment, namely the addition of systemic chemotherapy or surgery to RT for the treatment of brain metastases.

Conclusion: Multimodal treatment of patients with brain metastases from ovarian cancer can result in significant palliation.