Changing Treatment Paradigms for Brain Metastases From Melanoma-Part 1: Diagnosis, Prognosis, Symptom Control, and Local Treatment.

Melanoma is the third most common cause of brain metastases, after lung and breast cancer. The management of melanoma brain metastases can be broadly divided into symptom control and therapeutic strategies. Supportive treatments include corticosteroids to reduce peritumoral edema, antiepileptics for seizure control, and medications to preserve cognitive function. Until recently, therapeutic strategies consisted primarily of local treatments, including surgery, whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT), and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Surgery, WBRT, and SRS-alone and in various combinations-still play an important role in treatment, especially in patients with few and/or smaller brain lesions. Much work has been done recently to try to determine the optimal settings for these therapies, the most effective ways to combine them, and ideal radiation dose and fractions.