Accelerating the development of therapeutic strategy for oligometastasis

Metastasis is the principal cause of death among a large majority of cancer patients because of their systemic nature and the resistance of disseminated tumor cells to existing therapeutic agents. Patients who developed distant metastasis from lung cancers had been best served with palliative-intent systemic therapies. However, recent advances in lung cancer treatment including immune checkpoint inhibitors, molecular-target agents, and less invasive local therapies such as minimally-invasive surgery or stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SAbR) have accelerated the introduction of a “game-changing” curative intent approach in patients with limited metastatic burden, termed “oligometastasis”. There has been an increasing interest in the use of local ablative therapy (LAT) for patients with metastatic disease with the purpose of long- term survival or even cure.