FREQUENCY OF VARIOUS PRIMARIES IN BRAIN METASTASES

Introduction: Brain metastases are the most common intracranial tumors in adults, affecting upto 20% to 40% of all
cancer patients. . In order of decreasing frequency, lung, breast, melanoma, renal and colon cancers are the most
common primary tumors to metastasize to the brain. Early diagnosis and treatment may result in remission of brain
symptoms and may enhance the quality of patients life and prolong survival.
Methods: The study is descriptive case series. The study was carried out at Radiology Department PGMI / HMC Peshawar.
Study of one year duration (December 2006- December 2007) was done on patients referred to the radiology
department . Sample size was 50 patients of all ages selected by non probability convenience sampling with the exclusion
of diagnosed cases and Patients with a history of co-existent infective or inflammatory disease process.
Results: Gender distribution of the study showed that 62% patients were male , while the remaining 38% were female
. The age range was 3–85 years, with a mean value of 50 years. Regarding the number of metastatic brain deposits,
74% of the patients had multiple brain deposits , while 26% of patients had a single brain deposit . Bronchogenic carcinoma
was the most common tumor giving metastatic brain deposits present in 34% of patients. Area distribution of
the patients showed that bronchogenic carcinoma was most common in patients belonging to Peshawar District. Carcinoma
breast was mostly seen in the patients coming from Mardan District. Patients with gastrointestinal malignancy
were mostly from Charsadda District.
Conclusion: Early diagnosis and treatment is important as it may reverse symptoms completely, often returning the
patient to a useful life at least for sometime. The study also strongly supported the importance of CT scan in the early
and correct diagnosis of brain metastases, as this is more readily available and affordable in our setup compared to
magnetic resonance imaging and is more frequently advised to patients.
KEY WORDS: Brain Metastases, Bronchogenic Carcinoma, Carcinoma breast, Cerebral Cortex, Leptomenin