Refers to a distinct stage of cancer with an option for therapeutic approaches that could enable long-term disease management similar to other chronic conditions or have curative potential.
Oligometastatic disease is conceptualized as an intermediate state between limited, organ-confined primary malignancy and diffuse, polymetastatic disease.
Differentiating between oligometastatic and systemic metastatic disease is essential to pursue active treatment or palliative care.
Oligometastatic disease needs to be differentiated from oligo-recurrence, in which the oligometastases occur while the primary tumor is controlled or oligo-progression, in which a lesion exhibits disease progression even as the majority of tumor burden responds to therapy.
Aggressive local therapy of oligometastatic lesions has the potential to improve outcomes and allow the patient to be treated as a chronic disease over long periods of time.
Options for oligometastatic disease include surgery, stereotactic body radiation therapy, or radio frequency ablation.
A major objective of treating oligometastatic metastatic cancer is to achieve local tumor control while minimizing or eliminating systemic therapy associated with serious side effects.
An abscopal effect may be beneficial in patients with metastatic disease, when the primary tumor is treated.
The use of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy in patients with oligometastasis is associated with less than 5% grade three or higher toxic effects (Olson R).