Brain metastases from cholangiocarcinoma: a first case series in Thailand.
Brain metastasis from cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare but fatal event. To the best of our knowledge, only few cases have been reported. Herein, we report the incident rate and a first case series of brain metastases from CCA. Between January 2006 and December 2010 5,164 patients were treated at Srinagarind hospital, Khon Kaen University; of those, 8 patients developed brain metastasis. Here we reviewed clinical data and survival times. The incident rate of brain metastases from CCA was 0.15%. The median age of the patients was 60 years. Tumor subtypes were intrahepatic in 6 and hilar in 2 patients. All suffered from symptoms related to brain metastasis. Three patients were treated with whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT), one of whom also underwent surgery. The median survival after the diagnosis of brain metastasis was 9.5 weeks (1-28 weeks). The longest survival observed in a patient in RPA class I with two brain lesions and received WBRT. This is a first case series of brain metastases from CCA with the incident rate of 0.15%. It is rare and associated with short survival time.