Top Line: Do patients recover from neurocognitive failure after radiation for brain metastases?
The Study: Neurocognitive failure has been a primary outcome for numerous studies comparing techniques for treating brain metastases. We know that treatments like SRS, hippocampal avoidance, and memantine can reduce NCF over the first few months after treatment. This meta-analysis pooled data from 3 trials to determine what proportion of patients had cognitive recovery after initial NCF. It included 288 patients who had NCF after radiation. At 6 months, 38% had cognitive recovery. Recovery was significantly more common in patients treated with SRS who were more than twice as likely to recover than those who were treated with whole brain RT.
TBL: Among patients who have neurocognitive failure after radiation for brain metastases, over a third recover by 6 months, and recovery is more common after SRS than whole brain RT. | Cherng, J Natl Cancer Inst 2025
The Study: Neurocognitive failure has been a primary outcome for numerous studies comparing techniques for treating brain metastases. We know that treatments like SRS, hippocampal avoidance, and memantine can reduce NCF over the first few months after treatment. This meta-analysis pooled data from 3 trials to determine what proportion of patients had cognitive recovery after initial NCF. It included 288 patients who had NCF after radiation. At 6 months, 38% had cognitive recovery. Recovery was significantly more common in patients treated with SRS who were more than twice as likely to recover than those who were treated with whole brain RT.
TBL: Among patients who have neurocognitive failure after radiation for brain metastases, over a third recover by 6 months, and recovery is more common after SRS than whole brain RT. | Cherng, J Natl Cancer Inst 2025