Timing of Brain Metastasis Predicts Survival of Colorectal Cancer Patients
A recent study that was conducted on 5,617 people diagnosed with colorectal cancer found that while it was uncommon for these patients to develop brain metastases, those patients that developed brain metastases had overall shorter survival times than other patients that didn’t develop brain metastases linked to their colorectal cancer.
Out of the total study population of colorectal cancer patients, 94 (1.7%) had brain metastases that had been confirmed after radiology tests were done. The average age of the patients with brain metastases was 60.
Out of those patients with brain metastases, males had a 60.6% share while the others were female. An analysis of the group with brain metastases revealed that 44.7% of the population had their primary colorectal cancer tumors in the rectum while 33% had their primary tumors on the left side of their colons. 22.3% had primary tumors on the right side of the colon.
From the data, the researchers found that rectal and left-sided primary colorectal tumors tended to yield the majority of brain metastases because these two groups accounted for 77.7% of the brain metastases cases in the study population.
Another significant insight obtained from the study was that the timing of the development of the brain metastases had a strong bearing on how long the particular patient would survive. The data revealed that patients who developed brain metastases survived for an average of 5.8 months after the metastases showed up.
The timing of the onset of brain metastases also impacted the survival of patients. The data showed that patients who developed brain metastases in less than 90 days after initially being diagnosed with colorectal cancer survived for an average of 18.7 months.
This was markedly shorter than the overall survival of patients who developed the brain metastases more than 90 days after their initial colorectal cancer diagnosis. They averaged 42.5 months, a duration that was significantly longer than that of the other group.
More studies need to be done to explore the molecular underpinnings driving the development of brain metastases in colorectal cancer patients, and how treatment protocols can be adjusted to extend survival for the most vulnerable patient groups.
What is very clear is that the timing of the development of brain metastases has a clinically meaningful influence on the prognosis of the affected patients. If entities like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) could explore the development of therapies specifically intended to help patients with brain metastases, their overall survival could improve in a meaningful way.
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
A recent study that was conducted on 5,617 people diagnosed with colorectal cancer found that while it was uncommon for these patients to develop brain metastases, those patients that developed brain metastases had overall shorter survival times than other patients that didn’t develop brain metastases linked to their colorectal cancer.
Out of the total study population of colorectal cancer patients, 94 (1.7%) had brain metastases that had been confirmed after radiology tests were done. The average age of the patients with brain metastases was 60.
Out of those patients with brain metastases, males had a 60.6% share while the others were female. An analysis of the group with brain metastases revealed that 44.7% of the population had their primary colorectal cancer tumors in the rectum while 33% had their primary tumors on the left side of their colons. 22.3% had primary tumors on the right side of the colon.
From the data, the researchers found that rectal and left-sided primary colorectal tumors tended to yield the majority of brain metastases because these two groups accounted for 77.7% of the brain metastases cases in the study population.
Another significant insight obtained from the study was that the timing of the development of the brain metastases had a strong bearing on how long the particular patient would survive. The data revealed that patients who developed brain metastases survived for an average of 5.8 months after the metastases showed up.
The timing of the onset of brain metastases also impacted the survival of patients. The data showed that patients who developed brain metastases in less than 90 days after initially being diagnosed with colorectal cancer survived for an average of 18.7 months.
This was markedly shorter than the overall survival of patients who developed the brain metastases more than 90 days after their initial colorectal cancer diagnosis. They averaged 42.5 months, a duration that was significantly longer than that of the other group.
More studies need to be done to explore the molecular underpinnings driving the development of brain metastases in colorectal cancer patients, and how treatment protocols can be adjusted to extend survival for the most vulnerable patient groups.
What is very clear is that the timing of the development of brain metastases has a clinically meaningful influence on the prognosis of the affected patients. If entities like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) could explore the development of therapies specifically intended to help patients with brain metastases, their overall survival could improve in a meaningful way.
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
