Multi-institutional atlas of brain metastases informs spatial modeling for precision imaging and personalized therapy
Brain metastases are a frequent and debilitating manifestation of advanced cancer. Here, we collect and analyze neuroimaging of 3,065 cancer patients with 13,067 brain metastases, representing an extensive collection for research. We find that metastases predominantly localize to high perfusion areas near the grey-white matter junction, but also identify notable differences depending on the primary cancer histology as well as brain regions which do not conform to this relationship. Lung and breast cancers, in contrast to melanoma, frequently metastasize to the cerebellum, hinting at biological pathways of spread. Additionally, the deep brain structures are relatively spared from metastasis, regardless of primary cancer type. Leveraging this data, we propose a probabilistic brain metastasis risk model to enhance the therapeutic ratio of whole-brain radiotherapy by targeting high risk areas while preserving cortical and subcortical brain regions of functional significance and low metastasis risk, potentially reducing the cognitive side effects of therapy.
Authors
- Benjamin Ziemer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0489-5238)
- David Ronan Raleigh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9299-8864)
- Jan Seuntjens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2222-5924)
- Jean L. Nakamura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2097-9223)
- Åse Ballangrud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8269-8921)
- Stanley Benedict
- Shannon Fogh
- Joseph O. Deasy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9437-266X)
- Catherine Coolens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4321-5506)
- Shawn L. Hervey‐Jumper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4699-260X)
- Penny K. Sneed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0487-4250)
- Eve LoCastro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3975-8153)
- Philip V. Theodosopoulos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8311-4729)
- Michalis Aristophanous (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9117-1515)
- Evan Porter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6273-5788)
- Luke Pike (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9622-7442)
- Derek S. Tsang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9762-6901)
- Javier Villanueva-Meyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5910-0757)
- Oi Wai Chau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1127-4504)
- William C. Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8924-5853)
- Michael Maddalena (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1993-5271)
- Ke Sheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6696-5409)
- Lauren Boreta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7286-9253)
- David Shultz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8242-6555)
- Dante P. I. Capaldi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4590-7461)
- Taman Upadhaya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8193-546X)
- Olivier Morin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9240-5704)
- Steve E. Braunstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9841-9357)
- Aditya Apte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8120-0669)
- Christopher Paul Hess (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5132-5302)
- Harish N. Vasudevan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9633-1100)
- Peter H. Stone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6031-3699)
- Gilmer Valdés (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5842-5410)
- Soonmee Cha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5924-5876)
- Daniel L. Cooke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3694-413X)
- Fei Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7685-0242)
- Jinger Sun
- Hui Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7356-3611)
- Kayla Prezelski
- Maasa Seaberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7655-1111)
- Rubén Fragoso
- Jorge Barrios
- Julian R. Perks
- D. Hsu
- Jessica Chew
- Muhtada A K Aldin
Institutions
- University Health Network (CA)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (CA)
- University of California System (US)
- Moffitt Cancer Center (US)
- Neurological Surgery (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-05-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59584-7
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Medical Imaging Techniques and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.80