Importance: Preoperative stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) vs postoperative SRT logistics and toxic effects provides clinically significant data on management outcomes.
Objective: To determine preoperative SRT logistics and safety profile compared with postoperative in patients with brain metastases.
Design, setting, and participants: This single-institution phase 3 randomized clinical trial included patients 18 years and older and undergoing a planned surgical resection. Patients were required to have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status score of 2 or greater and be candidates for SRT within 30 days of surgical resection. Patients with radiosensitive histologies (eg, small cell lung cancer and lymphoma), brain metastasis of unknown primary, and/or radiographic evidence of leptomeningeal disease were excluded. Data were collected from December 2018 to August 2023, and data were analyzed from September 2023 to December 2024.
Interventions: Patients were randomized 1:1. Patients randomized to the preoperative SRT cohort underwent SRT (in 1 to 5 fractions) followed by surgical resection within 1 month of radiation therapy. Patients randomized to the postoperative SRT cohort underwent resection followed by postoperative SRT within 1 month of surgery.
Main outcomes and measures: Outcomes reported focus on nonprimary end point analysis of the trial, including comparative toxic effect outcomes of preoperative vs postoperative SRT postprocedural events, feasibility of preoperative SRT, and radiation therapy management.
Results: Of 103 patients, 56 (54.4%) were male, and the median (range) age was 59 (26-83) years. Of 103 patients, 83 (80.6%) completed both radiation and surgery for brain metastases while in the study. Of these, 70 patients (84%) had 1 to 4 brain metastases at enrollment, 11 (13%) had 5 to 10 lesions, and 2 (2%) had more than 10 lesions. In the preoperative stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)/SRT cohort, 45 (88%) completed both treatments compared with 38 (73%) in the postoperative SRS/SRT arm. There were no statistically significant differences between treatment groups in 30-day postoperative morbidity or postprocedural events. The median (range) time between surgery and SRT was significantly shorter in the preoperative arm (6 [0-24] days) compared with the postoperative arm (22 [12-42] days; P < .001). The median (range) time from randomization to receiving both brain-directed therapies was 10 (4-31) days in the preoperative arm compared with 32.5 (19-55) days for the postoperative arm (P < .001).
Conclusions and relevance: In this randomized clinical trial, preoperative SRT had comparable safety to postoperative SRT and resulted in shorter time to treatment completion, potentially facilitating expedited care.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03741673.