Brain metastases and possibilities of their treatment, with special reference to single-session whole-brain irradiation.

A brief review of methods used in the treatment of brain metastases is followed by a discussion of single-session whole-brain irradiation, with special reference to three important practical problems: (a) difficulties in evaluation of the clinical condition, and particularly the quality of survival, after treatment; (b) cerebral oedema induced by single-session whole-brain irradiation and methods to reduce it; (c) selection of patients. The tentative conclusion is that single-session whole-brain irradiation affords a possibility of palliative treatment of brain metastases.