We recently made a $10,000 gift to establish a 30 patient clinical trial for Dr. Wernicke’s fascinating research. Her trial suggests pre-operative radiation followed by surgery will prevent the occurrence of leptomeningeal disease. Brain metastases are the most common brain cancer, arising most commonly (67-80%) from primary cancers originating from the lung, breast, melanoma, colon, and kidney. The traditional treatment of surgically resected brain metastases has been surgery followed by post-operative radiation to the brain to decrease recurrence. Unfortunately, spillage of tumor cells during surgery, as well as certain cancer pathologies and locations of the tumor in the brain, predispose patients to a higher risk of recurrence of and most devastatingly, leptomeningeal disease. Leptomeningeal disease – the “coating” of the entire brain tissue with cancer which is very similar to the skin of the apple - is a deadly phenomenon leading to a patient’s death within a short period o...