Addition of upfront whole-brain radiotherapy to surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery versus surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery alone for treatment of brain metastases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

2016 Background: The benefits of adding upfront whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) to surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) when compared to surgery or SRS alone for treatment of brain metastases are unclear. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials (RCT) to determine the efficacy and safety of additional upfront WBRT. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL from date of inception and annual meeting proceedings of ASCO and ASTRO from 1999 to September 2011 for RCTs comparing surgery or SRS plus WBRT with surgery or SRS alone for treatment of brain metastases. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes include progression free survival (PFS), local and distant intracranial disease progression, neurocognitive function (NF), quality of life (Qol) and neurological toxicity. Hazard ratios (HR), confidence intervals (CI), p values (p) were estimated with random effects models using Revman 5.1. Results: We found five RCTs includin...