The distribution of brain metastases in the perihippocampal region (Regarding Gondi et al., Radiother Oncol 2010;95:327-331).

摘要

The articles by Gondi et al. [1 ] and Ghia et al. [2] made an excellent study of the occurrence of brain metastases in different regions around the hippocampus. Ghia analyzed 100 patients developing metastases from different cancer types; Gondi extended this study to 371 patients. Both report that about 3% of the total observed metastases in the brain were located within 5 mm of the hippocampi. This result indicates that hippocampal avoidance during whole brain radiotherapy is safe for clinical testing, making it possible to lower the negative side-effects due to hippocampal irradiation. These observations can suggest that the chance of metastases within 5 mm around the hippocampi is less than elsewhere in the brain. However our interpretation of the data is that the results from both articles are consistent with the hypothesis that the occurrence of metastases per unit volume in the perihippocampal region is equal throughout the whole brain.