Medicina nuclear y radioterapia

A Prospective Observational Study on Clinical Endpoints in Patients with Brain Metastases Undergoing Whole Brain Radiation Therapy (WBRT)

Abstract

B. Purna Chandu, Chetty Vikas, Sree Poojitha Bandari, Vusnagiri Nithin, E. Jagadish Kumar and B. Chandrasekhara Rao

Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the measures of quality of life (QoL), symptoms, and overall performance status of brain metastases patients and record the acute side effects of whole brain radiation therapy.

Methods: A prospective observational study was performed on brain metastases patients who are diagnosed using a brain CT scan or MRI receiving WBRT. The quality of life and symptoms are assessed by using QLQ C-30 and BN-20 questionnaires, and performance status is assessed by using ECOG and recorded acute side effects during the whole brain radiation therapy.

Results: The patient’s quality of life and symptoms are collected through the EORTC QLQ C-30 and QLQ BN-20 questionaries. Wilcoxon signedranks test was used to examine the differences in baseline and follow-up measures, at the level of significance (alpha) p-value < 0.05 considered statistically significant. In C-30 majority of scales have not resulted in significant improvement at the 1-month of follow-up except for nausea and vomiting and constipation. In BN-20 only headache, seizures, and drowsiness resulted in significant improvement at the 1-month follow-up.

Conclusion: Overall, there is no significant improvement in patients in the majority of QLQc30- and BN-20 scale items and the performance status of patients after whole brain radiation therapy. Along with these other factors like extracranial disease burden also can have an effect on the patient’s condition. So, there is a need for further advancements in the treatment of patients with brain metastases for the betterment of care in the future.