@article { author = {}, title = {Radiotherapy for Brain Metastases in Southern Thailand: Workload, Treatment Pattern and Survival}, journal = {Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention}, volume = {16}, number = {4}, pages = {1435-1442}, year = {2015}, publisher = {West Asia Organization for Cancer Prevention (WAOCP), APOCP's West Asia Chapter.}, issn = {1513-7368}, eissn = {2476-762X}, doi = {}, abstract = {Purpose: To study the patient load, treatment pattern, survival outcome and its predictors in patients withbrain metastases treated by radiotherapy. Materials and Methods: Data for patients with brain metastasestreated by radiotherapy between 2003 and 2007 were collected from medical records, the hospital informationsystem database, and a population-based tumor registry database until death or at least 5 years after treatmentand retrospectively reviewed. Results: The number of treatments for brain metastases gradually increased from48 in 2003 to 107 in 2007, with more than 70% from lung and breast cancers. The majority were treated withwhole brain radiation of 30 Gy (3 Gy X 10 fractions) by cobalt-60 machine, using radiation alone. The overallmedian survival of the 418 patients was 3.9 months. Cohort analysis of relative survival after radiotherapy wasas follows: 52% at 3 months, 18% at 1 year and 3% at 5 years in males; and 66% at 3 months, 26% at 1 year and7% at 5 years in females. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the patients treated with combined modalitieshad a better prognosis. Poor prognostic factors included primary cancer from the lung or gastrointestinal tract,emergency or urgent consultation, poor performance status (ECOG 3-4), and a hemoglobin level before treatmentof less than 10 g/dl. Conclusions: This study identified an increasing trend of patient load with brain metastases.Possible over-treatment and under-treatment were demonstrated with a wide range of survival results. Practicalprognostic scoring systems to assist in decision-making for optimal treatment of different patient groups isabsolutely necessary; it is a key strategy for balancing good quality of care and patient load.}, keywords = {radiotherapy,cancer,brain metastases,survival,Workload,Thailand}, url = {https://journal.waocp.org/article_30635.html}, eprint = {https://journal.waocp.org/article_30635_8c5f2ac0f73c17de59fa92d9e23aea2a.pdf} }