Istanbul Tip Fakultesi Dergisi, vol.86, no.1, pp.52-58, 2023 (ESCI)
Objective: Malignant melanoma (MM) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are rare radioresistant tumors that often metastasize to the brain. Because of their rarity, studies on brain metastatic RCC and MM are limited. We aimed to outline the characteristics of brain metastasis (BM) patients from RCC and MM and analyze the potential prognostic factors for survival. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective-observational study using data from patients admitted to a radiotherapy (RT) center of a university hospital between 1998-2020. Clinicopathological characteristics, treatment details, and outcome results were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed. Results: Among a total of 14,603 patients treated in our center in the study period, only 52 (0.004%) were BM cases from MM or RCC. Forty patients had complete data (median age at diagnosis of MM or RCC-related BM: 57.7; females: 25%; MM in 52.5% and RCC in 47.5%). The time between primary diagnosis and first extracranial metastases was weakly correlated with the time between diagnosis of extracranial metastasis and BM (r=0.405, p=0.021). Among the potential prognostic factors on survival [age, sex, older vs younger age group, primary diagnosis (MM vs RC), presence of extracranial metastasis, number of BM, location of BM, presence of gross total resection, dose of RT, completion of prescribed RT, field of RT], none were independently associated with survival. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that when MM or RCC patients develop brain metastasis, survival is limited without any favorable prognostic factor belonging to the patient, the tumor, or the preference of the treatment.