Routine preoperative brain CT in resectable non-small cell lung cancer – ten years experience from a tertiary UK thoracic center

Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) has the highest incidence of metastases to the central nervous system amongst all solid tumours [1]. Detection of synchronous brain metastasis in lung cancer can have significant impact on treatment strategy. Whether all patients presenting with NSCLC should undergo routine brain imaging during staging has long been a matter of debate, with no clear consensus [2 –6]. The reported low prevalence of metastases in the absence of neurological symptoms [2,7,8] provides the rationale for limiting head imaging to either patients with abnormal neurological findings, or to those with more advanced disease stages in which the incidence of metastases is increased [4 ].

Source: Lung Cancer - June 10, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tomasz Matys, Rosalyn Drury, Sarojini David, Doris M. Rassl, Wendi Qian, Robert C. Rintoul, Nicholas J. Screaton Source Type: research