The UCLA Metastatic Brain Tumor Program's goal is to treat metastatic disease focally so as to spare normal brain tissue and function. Focal treatment allows retreatment of local and new recurrences. Our current armamentarium includes surgical excision, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Brain metastases are tumors that arise from outside of the brain and spread to the brain.
Surgical Excision Surgical excision is the gold standard of treatment for surgically accessible lesions. Many studies in the medical literature clearly demonstrate the efficacy and superiority of surgical resection followed by radiation over radiation therapy as a first-line treatment for metastatic brain tumors. Even for patients with up to four metastases, surgical excision of all intracranial disease has been shown to provide the long survival with good quality of life. Neuronavigational tools such as the ISG Wand and Brain Lab Wand may be used to guide the surgeon to the tumor through small craniotomies. When appropriate, the interventional MRI scanner may be used to provide intra-operative updated MR imaging to both guide the surgeon towards tumor and to assess the results of tumor removal prior to completing surgery.