Predicting survival after whole-brain irradiation for cerebral metastases from prostate cancer

Background/Aim: Prostate cancer patients represent a small minority of those presenting with cerebral metastases. Knowledge about overall survival (OS) contributes to individualization of treatment concepts. In this study an OS score was created for patients receiving whole-brain irradiation (WBI) for cerebral metastases from prostate cancer. Patients and Methods: Of six variables, four were significantly associated with OS: performance status, time from diagnosis of prostate cancer to WBI, number of cerebral lesions, extracranial metastases. Results: Six-month OS rates of the four variables (in %, divided by 10) were added. The addition resulted in scores of 1 to 19 points. Six-month OS rates were 0% for <15 points and 100% for ≥15 points (p<0.001). Conclusion: An OS score was generated specifically for patients with cerebral lesions from prostate cancer. For patients with <15 points, a short WBI regimen (5x4 Gy) should be used, for patients with ≥15 points a longer regimen seems appropriate.