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This phase III trial compares the effect of stereotactic radiosurgery to standard of care memantine and whole brain radiation therapy that avoids the hippocampus (the memory zone of the brain) for the treatment of small cell lung cancer that has spread to the brain. Stereotactic radiosurgery is a specialized radiation therapy that delivers a single, high dose of radiation directly to the tumor and may cause less damage to normal tissue. Whole brain radiation therapy delivers a low dose of radiation to the entire brain including the normal brain tissue. Hippocampal avoidance during whole-brain radiation therapy (HA-WBRT) decreases the amount of radiation that is delivered to the hippocampus which is a brain structure that is important for memory. The drug, memantine, is also often given with whole brain radiotherapy because it may decrease the risk of side effects related to thinking and memory. Stereotactic radiosurgery may decrease side effects related to memory and thinking compared to standard of care HA-WBRT plus memantine.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. Determine whether stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) relative to whole brain radiotherapy with hippocampal avoidance (HA-WBRT) plus memantine hydrochloride (memantine) for brain metastases from small cell lung cancer (SCLC) prevents cognitive function failure as measured by cognitive decline on a battery of tests: the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test - Revised (HVLT-R), Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA) test, and the Trail Making Test (TMT). SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether SRS relative to HA-WBRT plus memantine for brain metastases from SCLC preserves cognitive function as separately measured by the HVLT-R, COWA, TMT Parts A and B, and Clinical Trial Battery Composite (CTB COMP). II. Assess perceived difficulties in cognitive abilities using Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) after SRS relative to HA-WBRT plus memantine for brain metastases from SCLC. III. Assess symptom burden using the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory for brain tumor (MDASI-BT) after SRS relative to HA-WBRT plus memantine for brain metastases from SCLC. IV. Compare cumulative incidence of intracranial disease progression after SRS relative to HA-WBRT plus memantine for brain metastases from SCLC. V. Compare overall survival after SRS relative to HA-WBRT plus memantine for brain metastases from SCLC. VI. Compare cumulative incidence of neurologic death after SRS relative to HA-WBRT plus memantine for brain metastases from SCLC. VII. Compare the number of salvage procedures used to manage recurrent intracranial disease following SRS relative to HA-WBRT plus memantine for SCLC brain metastases. VIII. Compare adverse events between the treatment arms according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version (v)5.0 criteria. IX. Compare the risk of developing cerebral necrosis between SRS and HA-WBRT plus memantine in patients receiving concurrent immunotherapy.