ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Neuro-Oncology and Neurosurgical Oncology

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1523069

Analysis of Prognostic Factors and Risk Prediction in Brain Metastases: A SEER Population-Based Study

Provisionally accepted
ZIXUAN  YANGZIXUAN YANG*Qiang  JiQiang JiXun  KangXun KangLili  ZhouLili ZhouFeng  ChenFeng ChenWenbin  LiWenbin Li*
  • Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

This study investigates survival disparities and prognostic factors in patients with brain metastases originating from various primary cancers to facilitate risk stratification and enhance precision in diagnosis and treatment.Patients diagnosed with brain metastases between 2010 and 2018 were identified from the SEER database for analysis. Overall survival (OS) was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests, complemented by multivariate Cox regression analysis. The impact of age on the risk and survival of brain metastases was examined using Restricted Cubic Splines (restricted cubic splines (RCS)RCS) in Cox regression models.A total of 55,094 patients diagnosed with brain metastases between 2010 and 2018 were retrospectively identified from the SEER database for inclusion in this study.The study included 55,094 patients diagnosed with brain metastases from 2010 to 2018. It was found that the median survival times were 2 months (95% CI: 2-3 months) for liver cancer, 3 months (95% CI: 3-4 months) for stomach cancer, and 5 months (95% CI: 4-5 months) for lung cancer. Survival was influenced by factors such as sex, age, primary cancer site, race, income, marital status, and treatment approaches. Surgical treatment notably decreased the mortality risk, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.49 (95% CI: 4-5 months 0.46-0.53) for lung cancer, 0.43 (95% CI:3-4 months 0.37-0.49) for kidney cancer, and 0.63 (95% CI: 5-7 months0.54-0.74) for breast cancer. The predictive model created with these variables achieved a C-index of 0.723 and 0.722 in the training and test sets, respectively, indicating vital accuracy. Calibration curves displayed minimal errors, and the area under the curve (AUC) values showed excellent performance at 3 months (training: 0.83, test: 0.83), 6 months (training: 0.80, test: 0.80), and 12 months (training: 0.77, test: 0.76).Brain metastases from liver, stomach, and lung cancers are linked to a poor prognosis. Surgical intervention significantly lowers mortality risk. The predictive model, which incorporates vital survival factors, demonstrates high accuracy and reliable performance, supporting the clinical management of patients with brain metastases.

Keywords: brain metastases, Risk factors, Prediction model, SEER, prognosis

Received: 06 Nov 2024; Accepted: 18 Apr 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 YANG, Ji, Kang, Zhou, Chen and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
ZIXUAN YANG, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Wenbin Li, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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