Background: Cerebellar metastases are considered a negative prognostic factor in patients with systemic cancers. We retrospectively reviewed the treatment and outcome of 109 patients with cerebellar metastases.
Methods: A total of 1240 patients with metastatic brain tumors were identified and treated between January 1990 and December 2005.
Results: Cerebellar metastases occurred in 109 (8.7%) of these patients. The primary site of carcinoma was lung in 43 patients, breast in 24 patients, and gastrointestinal in 19 patients. Seventy-three (67.0%) patients underwent surgical resection; and of those patients, 27 (24.8%) also received WBRT. In 68 patients with high performance status (KPS >70), the median survival time (MST) after the diagnosis of brain metastasis was 22.1 months compared to 13.4 months in 41 patients with pretreatment KPS of <70. The MST for 38 patients who had surgical resection alone was 20.5 months compared to 35.5 months for those (n = 27) who had surgical resection followed by radiotherapy.
Conclusions: Aggressive treatment including surgical resection and radiotherapy for patients and high performance status (KPS of at least 70) are associated with longer survival for selected patients with cerebellar metastases.