Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39546075›Full record

ArticleDiscover oncology2024

Radiotherapy in patients with brain metastases with and without concomitant immunotherapy: comparison of patient outcome and neurotoxicity.

Natalie Elyan, Philipp Schwenkenbecher, Lea Grote-Levi, Jan-Niklas Becker, Roland Merten, Hans Christiansen, Thomas Skripuletz, Diana Steinmann, Nora Möhn

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Discover oncology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Immunotherapy may promote the occurrence of radiation-induced brain injury in NSCLC patients with brain metastases undergoing radiotherapy: a retrospective propensity score-matching and inverse probability of treatment weighting study.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Natalie ElyanDepartment of Radiotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Philipp SchwenkenbecherDepartment of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.
Lea Grote-LeviDepartment of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.
Jan-Niklas BeckerDepartment of Radiotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Roland MertenDepartment of Radiotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Hans ChristiansenDepartment of Radiotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Thomas SkripuletzDepartment of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.
Diana SteinmannDepartment of Radiotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Nora MöhnDepartment of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. moehn.nora@mh-hannover.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

aimRecently, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have been added to the treatment of brain metastases. While combining radiotherapy and ICI can enhance therapeutic effects, it might also increase the risk of severe autoimmune adverse events. This retrospective study aims to compare treatment responses and neurotoxicity in patients treated with radiotherapy alone versus those receiving a combination of radiotherapy and ICI. PATIENTS AND

methodsAll patients with brain metastases who received radiotherapy at Hannover Medical School from 2017 to 2019 were included. The medical reports of all study participants were evaluated. Patients who received radiotherapy alone and those who received a combination of radiation and ICI were compared.

resultsA total of 248 patients were analyzed, with the most common tumor types being non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and malignant melanoma. Half of the patients received whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and the other half stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT). Of these, 29 patients received concurrent immunotherapy and radiotherapy, 30 completed immunotherapy before radiotherapy, and 29 started ICI after completing radiotherapy. Two cases lacked information on the duration of immunotherapy. Overall survival post-initial tumor diagnosis within the total cohort was 52 months, with significantly worse survival for patients with multiple brain metastases (p = 0.020). No significant differences in survival or incidence of neurological adverse events were observed between patients with or without ICI.

conclusionCombining radiotherapy and ICI did not significantly increase neurotoxicity or improve survival in this cohort, though the heterogeneity of the subgroups limits the generalizability of these findings.

Indexed as

Immune checkpoint inhibitorsNeurotoxicityRadiotherapySteroids

Identifiers

PMID39546075
PMCPMC11568079

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.