Diagnostic Approaches And Prognostic Factors In Patients With Brain Metastasis From Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in our country. Brain metastasis is the most common complication. Due to optimized treatment strategies in patients with Lung cancer leading to prolonged survival times and due to improved diagnostic methods, the incidence of brain metastases from lung cancer increased over the last decades. Brain metastasis occurs in 20% to 50% of patients with Lung cancer.Clinical symptoms, Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI),magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging(DWI), perfusion imaging and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy(MRS) are important methods in the diagnosis of brain metastasis. brain metastasis represents a devastating complication of lung cancer, and patients with brain metastasis have a dismal prognosis,with the median survival of untreated ones is just one month. So what appears clear is that brain metastasis should be diagnosed early to prevent important neurological deficits and to provide the most appropriate treatment. Until now, optimal treatment of brain metastasis remains in discussion. Additionally, little is known concerning prognostic factors in patients with brain metastasis from lung cancer which might help to select direct treatments and to spare those patients from intensive therapy who will not profit. This report tries to determine prognostic factors in patients with brain metastasis from Lung cancer, helping clinicians to decide the best therapeutic approach and to analyze the efficacy of different diagnostic methods administered within daily clinical practice.