Radiation tiles placed during brain surgery compared with radiation after surgery
Original title: Surgery and tile-based radiation therapy versus surgery and stereotactic radiation for newly diagnosed brain metastases (ROADS): a randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This was tested in a large trial in people, but it is not standard care yet.
The short version
Small radiation tiles placed during surgery kept the tumor from coming back at that spot more often than radiation given later.
What was studied. At 32 centers in the United States, 230 people with newly found cancer that spread to the brain had surgery. Some had radiation tiles placed in the brain during surgery. Others had focused radiation after surgery.
What they found. The tumor came back at the surgery spot less often in the tile group. In the group that had radiation after surgery, the tumor came back at that spot by 17.4 months for half the people. In the tile group, that point was never reached. Side effects looked about the same: 83 people (79.0%) with tiles and 67 people (80.7%) with radiation after surgery.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: If you need surgery for cancer that spread to the brain, there may be another way to give radiation. The tiles start working right away, during the surgery itself. That may also mean fewer radiation visits later. This is worth asking your care team about.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean the tiles are a cure. The study did not show that people live longer. It only looked at whether the tumor came back where it was removed. This was a large trial, but tiles are not standard care yet, and not every hospital offers them. The follow up time was short, so the long term results are not known.
Source: PubMed, September 28, 2026 · Read the original
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