Early Recurrence of Calcified Metastatic Brain Tumor after Gamma Knife : A Case Report

Abstract

  Calcification of metastatic brain tumors is relatively rare and long-term survival is often reported. We report a case of relatively early recurrence of a metastatic brain tumor following Gamma Knife radiosurgery. The patient is an 80-year-old woman who was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma. She underwent computed tomography (CT) during maintenance chemotherapy, which demonstrated a small brain tumor with areas of calcification in the right cerebellar hemisphere. Considering the patient was elderly with low cardiac function, we decided to perform Gamma Knife radiosurgery as the first intervention. After treatment, the tumor shrunk but recurred six months later. After re-treatment, the tumor shrunk once more, but again recurred six months later. There are various mechanisms of calcification within brain metastasis, but some may be associated with poor prognostic factors or may affect radiosensitivity. Therefore, further studies are needed.