Whole brain radiotherapy (RT) is the standard of care for breast cancer patients with multiple brain metastases but there are multiple negative consequences associated with the irradiation of normal brain tissue. In our study we investigated the influence that RT-induced damage of healthy brain has on the arrest and growth of metastatic breast cancer cells in a mouse model of breast cancer brain metastasis. We observed that irradiated but otherwise healthy neural tissue had an increased propensity to support metastatic growth compared to control. Elucidating the impact of RT on normal neural tissue could have implications in clinical patient management.
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