Metastatic Brain Tumors

Metastatic brain tumors are cancers that have spread from somewhere else in the body. While primary brain tumors develop from cells that are part of the brain, like astrocytes or oligiodendrocytes, metastatic brain tumors are made of cancer cells from the primary cancer site. Cancers that are most likely to metastasize to the brain are breast cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, colon cancer and melanoma. Metastatic brain cancer is the most common type of brain tumor, affecting as many as 200,000 people.

The neuro-oncologists at Hollings work closely with the other cancer teams to coordinate care for people whose cancer has metastasized to the brain. Our goal is to provide good quality of life. In addition, patients may become eligible for clinical trials for the primary cancer once their brain metastases are treated.

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Metastatic brain tumor symptoms

Symptoms of brain metastases are similar to symptoms of primary brain tumors. These include:

• Headaches
• Seizures
• Memory problems
• Nausea
• Personality changes
• Numbness

Metastatic brain tumor treatment

Treating brain metastases can help to improve quality of life. Controlling brain metastases helps the oncologist for your primary cancer to concentrate on treating that cancer. The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the size and number of metastases as well as the type of primary cancer that you have. Treatments include:

• Medication to control swelling
• Targeted therapy: Medications specific to your primary cancer, such as breast cancer or lung cancer, can cross the blood-brain barrier and attack the cancer cells that have spread to the brain.
• Immunotherapy: Medications like immune checkpoint inhibitors can help your immune system to identify and attack cancer cells.
• Surgery: Surgery is an option for larger metastatic tumors, but isn’t as good of an option for many small metastases.
• Radiation: Hollings offers both Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery and external beam radiation therapy.

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