Intracerebral metastases natural history, complications and prognosis
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sujit Routray, M.D. [2]
Overview
Overview
If left untreated, patients with intracerebral metastases may progress to develop seizures, altered mental status, hemiplegia, focal neurological deficits, hemorrhage, brain herniation, coma, and death.[1][2] Common complications of intracerebral metastases include brain herniation, hemorrhage, coma, and stroke. Depending on the type of the primary cancer, the age of the patient, absence or presence of extracranial metastases, and the number of metastatic sites in the brain at the time of diagnosis, the prognosis may vary. However, the prognosis is generally regarded as poor. The median survival time of all patients with intracerebral metastases is 2.3 months.[3][4]
Natural History
Natural History
If left untreated, patients with intracerebral metastases may progress to develop seizures, altered mental status, hemiplegia, focal neurological deficits, hemorrhage, brain herniation, coma, and death.[1][2]
Prognosis
Prognosis
- Depending on the type of primary cancer; the age of the patient; absence or presence of extracranial metastases; and the number of metastatic sites in the brain at the time of diagnosis, the prognosis may vary. However, the prognosis is generally regarded as poor.[3][4]
- The median survival time of all patients with intracerebral metastases is 2.3 months.
- The primary tumor-specific median survival time of intracerebral metastases are tabulated below:[4]
| Primary | Median survival (months) | 95% C.I. |
|---|---|---|
| Non-small cell lung cancer | 7 | 6.53 – 7.50 |
| Small cell lung cancer | 4.9 | 4.30 – 6.20 |
| Melanoma | 6.74 | 5.90 – 7.57 |
| Renal cell carcinoma | 9.63 | 7.66 – 10.91 |
| Breast cancer | 11.93 | 9.69 – 12.85 |
| Gastrointestinal cancer | 5.36 | 4.30 – 6.30 |
| Unknown | 6.37 | 5.22 – 7.49 |
- However, in some patients such as those with no extracranial metastases, the prognosis is much better with the median survival rate of upto 13.5 months.[3]
- Favorable prognostic factors (median survival time of 13.5 months) for intracerebral metastases include:[3][5]
- No extracranial metastases
- Age less than 65 years
- Single site of metastasis in the brain
- Responsive to steroid treatment
- No impairment of neurocognitive function
- Supratentorial location
- Female gender
References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Clinical presentation of brain metastases. Dr Bruno Di Muzio and Dr Trent Orton et al. Radiopaedia 2015. http://radiopaedia.org/articles/brain-metastases. Accessed on November 9, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Andrew B. Lassman & Lisa M. DeAngelis (2003). “Brain metastases”. Neurologic clinics. 21 (1): 1–23. PMID 12690643. Unknown parameter
|month=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Prognosis of brain metastasis. Wikipedia 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_metastasis. Accessed on November 9, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Khuntia, Deepak (2015). “Contemporary Review of the Management of Brain Metastasis with Radiation”. Advances in Neuroscience. 2015: 1–13. doi:10.1155/2015/372856. ISSN 2356-6787.
- ↑ Fabi, Alessandra; Felici, Alessandra; Metro, Giulio; Mirri, Alessandra; Bria, Emilio; Telera, Stefano; Moscetti, Luca; Russillo, Michelangelo; Lanzetta, Gaetano; Mansueto, Giovanni; Pace, Andrea; Maschio, Marta; Vidiri, Antonello; Sperduti, Isabella; Cognetti, Francesco; Carapella, Carmine M (2011). “Brain metastases from solid tumors: disease outcome according to type of treatment and therapeutic resources of the treating center”. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research. 30 (1): 10. doi:10.1186/1756-9966-30-10. ISSN 1756-9966.
Looking for the patient version?
© 2026 MyEClinic – IFTM Institut für Telematik in der Medizin GmbH