Patterns of brain metastasis in lung cancer.

Brain metastasis as the only site of spread in lung cancer was studied. Ninety-two (13.1%) of 701 lung cancer patients had brain metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Eighteen and 16 patients had small primary lesion and were N0-1 disease, respectively. Thirty-two patients had sole brain metastasis. Patients with sole brain metastasis had more favorable survival than patients with other metastatic sites (p=0.0165). Brain metastasis may occur even with small primary lesion and/or without regional lymph node involvement. Well-planned surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery will result in enhanced survival.