Single dose irradiation in treatment of cerebral metastases from bronchial carcinoma

Abstract
Eighteen patients with cerebral metastases from carcinoma of the bronchus were treated with a single whole brain dose of 1000 rads megavoltage radiation while on steroids. This is a safe treatment as no patient died less than 2 weeks after treatment. Improvement in neurologic symptoms occurred in 10/18 patients (55%). These patients had a mean survival of 3.2 months. The 8 patients who showed no improvement had a mean survival of 1.8 months. These results are not as good as the reported results of fractionated radiation therapy.