Richtlijn ‘Hersenmetastasen’: geen kookboek

The guideline ‘Brain Metastases’, which was revised on behalf of the Dutch Society for Neuro-Oncology (LWNO), provides an excellent overview of levels of scientific evidence on diagnosis and treatment of patients with parenchymal brain metastases of solid tumours. I would like to emphasize, however, that this guideline is not a cookbook for facilitating individual physicians to treat patients on their own. It is important that every patient suffering from brain metastases is discussed by a multidisciplinary tumour board consisting of at least a neurologist, a neurosurgeon, a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, a pathologist and a radiologist, and that several crucial questions need to be explicitly asked and answered about every single patient.

Conflict of interest: Dr. J.C. Reijneveld received research grants form the Dutch Cancer Society, the Dutch Epilepsy Foundation, UCB Pharma Netherlands, Sanofi-Aventis, Alp d’Huzes, the National Brain Tumor Foundation/Tug McGraw Foundation, STOPHersentumoren.nl (STOP Brain Tumours), Fonds NutsOhra Zorgsubsidies (health care grant fund). Financial support for this article: none declared.