Methods: Clinical outcomes of a total of 16 patients (14 males, 2 females; mean age 60 years; range, 41 to 71 years) who were diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer and concomitant solitary/oligo brain metastasis and who underwent an intervention primarily for cranium, followed by lung resection in our clinic between January 2012 and January 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Cranial surgery or gamma-knife radiosurgery was performed in the treatment of brain metastases.

Results: Twelve patients with solitary brain metastasis underwent cranial surgery, while four patients with solitary/oligo metastases underwent gamma-knife radiosurgery prior to pulmonary resection. Definitive pathological examination revealed adenocarcinoma in 13 patients and squamous-cell lung carcinoma in three patients. Mean survival time was 15.3±8.6 months. One-year and two-year survival rates were 56.2% and 32%, respectively. The number of brain metastases, treatment type, tumor cell type, resection type, and status of lymph nodes were not statistically significantly associated with survival (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Cranial surgery or gamma-knife radiosurgery followed by aggressive lung resection can be effectively applied in selected non-small cell lung cancer patients with synchronous brain metastasis. However, the suitability of the primary tumor and brain metastases for complete resection is of utmost importance in patient selection.