Improving patient selection and outcome of stereotactic radiosurgery as a single treatment modality for brain metastases

Brain metastases have an impact on the quality of life and prognosis of cancer patients. Targeted radiation therapy or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) can destroy such metastases without the need for open surgery. Several metastases can be treated simultaneously within half an hour. The research described in this dissertation focusses on three subjects. Firstly, it focusses on providing tailor-made information based on models for calculating treatment outcomes for individual patients. Secondly, a national study is described in which treatment outcomes of SRS for patients with more than three metastases are compared to treatment outcomes of skull radiation. Finally, it focusses on a safer and more effective method of dosing SRS than the method currently used.