P15.07.a Patient’s Subjective Assessment of Comfort With Treatment of Brain Metastases With Stereotactic Radiotherapy

BACKGROUND Local treatment of metastatic lesions in the central nervous system is currently the treatment of choice. Stereotactic radiotherapy is the preferred method for some patients due to its low invasiveness. The purpose of this study was to assess perceptions of the inconvenience and comfort of stereotactic radiotherapy for brain metastases. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study included 16 patients (37-83 years, mean age 61 years) undergoing stereotactic irradiation for brain metastases using a Cyber Knife or ZAP-X. A specially created for this study questionnaire of 20 close-ended questions with an opportunity to explain the reason for the answer was used. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee at the University of Warmia and Mazury w Olsztynie. RESULTS Nearly half of the patients (46%) surveyed felt nervous while waiting for treatment, more female than male (p=0.04). In contrast, irradiation itself was a cause of stress for only one responder (6%). The vast majority of patients reported no problems or difficulties related to the mask used, head support, maintaining body position during treatment, duration of treatment, etc. Women were significantly more likely than men to complain about the inconvenience of immobilizing their heads with a mask (p=0.04). No differences were observed depending on the age of the patients or the radiotherapy device used. All but one patient reported that they would agree to repeat stereotactic brain radiotherapy if necessary. CONCLUSION Stereotactic radiotherapy for brain metastases using Cyber Knife and ZAP-X is subjectively well tolerated by patients.