Sector Irradiation Versus Whole Brain Irradiation for Brain Metastasis

Microneurosurgical resection of intracerebral metastases leads to prolonged survival and relief of symptoms in selected patients. To minimize the risk of intracranial recurrence whole brain irradiation has been established as standard adjuvant treatment in those patients. Sector irradiation resembles a brain - tissue - sparing method by focusing the irradiation in the area of the tumor bed and a surrounding 1mm security margin. The aim of this study is to investigate whether adjuvant "sector""-irradiation following microsurgical resection is equal to adjuvant whole brain irradiation in terms of local control and superior to in terms of quality of life and neurocognitive deficits in a prospective randomized trial.