From pre-clinical to translational brain metastasis research: current challenges and emerging opportunities

Brain metastasis, characterized by poor clinical outcomes, is a devastating disease. Despite significant mechanistic and therapeutic advances in recent years, pivotal improvements in clinical interventions have remained elusive. The heterogeneous nature of the primary tumor of origin, complications in drug delivery across the blood–brain barrier, and the distinct microenvironment collectively pose formidable clinical challenges in developing new treatments for patients with brain metastasis. Although current preclinical models have deepened our basic understanding of the disease, much of the existing research on brain metastasis has employed a reductionist approach. This approach, which often relies on either in vitro systems or in vivo injection models in young and treatment-naive mouse models, does not give sufficient consideration to the clinical context. Given the translational importance of brain metastasis research, we advocate for the design of preclinical experimental models that take into account these unique clinical challenges and align more closely with current clinical practices. We anticipate that aligning and simulating real-world patient conditions will facilitate the development of more translatable treatment regimens. This brief review outlines the most pressing clinical challenges, the current state of research in addressing them, and offers perspectives on innovative metastasis models and tools aimed at identifying novel strategies for more effective management of clinical brain metastasis.