Independent Validation of a Unifying Prognostic Model for Intracranial and Extracranial Metastasis-directed Radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND/AIM:The aim of this study was to analyze the validity of a unifying prognostic model, originally developed by Kowalchuk et al., because relevant variations in clinical practice and observed survival may impact on the performance of predictive tools. PATIENTS AND METHODS:Retrospectively, data from a single institution were analyzed. The study included 253 patients managed with radiotherapy for spine and/or brain metastases. The Kowalchuk et al. score [3 parameters including performance status, number of organ systems involved with disease outside of the organ system of the treatment target, and treatment of intracranial target(s)] was assigned and the resulting prognostic strata compared. RESULTS:The decision tool developed by Kowalchuk et al. performed well, e.g., in terms of 2-year survival. Complementary information could be obtained by analyses of blood test results such as hemoglobin, albumin, and C-reactive protein. CONCLUSION:The new unifying score emerged as a valid prognostic model in our external validation database.