Survival in Patients with Brain Metastases from an Unknown Primary Tumor

Abstract

Aim: To analyze the survival rate and the prognostic factors of patients with brain metastases from unknown primary (BMUP) cancers. Material and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study with 55 patients (mean age- 62.8 years and range 22–80), with male 43 patients (78%) and female12 patients (22%) at the time of diagnosis, who presented to our outpatient oncology department between June 2015 and June 2019. We made the following variables as significant prognostic factors for a prominent index of patients’ survival: age, gender, Karnofsky performance score (KPS), number of metastatic lesions, primary site and type of treatment. Patients’ survival was evaluated from plotted Kaplan– Meier curves and the log-rank test for univariate analysis. Results: The mean follow-up was 13 months (range 4–60 months). The mean survival after the diagnosis of brain metastasis was 18.7 months for this study. Lung cancer was the most common primary tumor (74.5%). The KPS and number of lesions were found to have a prognostic effect on survival. Survival analysis showed no statistical significance with age, gender, primary site and type of treatment. Conclusion: This study showed that KPS and the number of lesions affect the survival outcomes. Therefore, BMUP cancer is indeed related to poor prognosis.