Oligometastatic lung cancer is cancer that has spread from the primary location to one or a few other organs. In most cases, oligometastatic lung disease occurs in the brain.

1. Managing Oligometastatic Lung Cancer
Oligometastatic lung cancer is cancer that has spread from the primary location to one or a
few other organs. In most cases, oligometastatic lung disease occurs in the brain.
Synchronous oligomestatases can occur during the initial diagnosis, while
metachronousoligometastases are seen within six months of diagnosis. The oligometastatic
phenotype is typically a function of the current biology of cancer in the body.
In several clinical trials to manage oligometastatic lung cancer:
 Oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients who received locally ablative
therapy after systematic therapy showed improvement in their progression-free
survival and overall survival.
 It was noted that most of the patients who benefited from this trial were those with
0 to 1 metastatic lesion.
 In a screening study, patients with up to 5 metastatic foci in different types of
cancers were given definitive treatment and standardized palliative therapy with
stereotactic radiotherapy. Improvement in progression-free survival and overall
survival was observed in this group as well. A randomized clinical trial is underway to
confirm these results.
 Another trial was conducted to assess the outcomes in patients with oligometastatic
lung cancer when immunotherapy is added to locally ablative therapy. The patients
were given pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for six months with excellent results.
These few trials and many others have confirmed that locally ablative therapy can be used
as a treatment option for oligometastatic lung disease. As for immunotherapy, efforts are
ongoing to help identify its biomarkers to help direct oncologists on the right patients who
can receive the combination with definitive results.
Currently, randomized trials are being carried out to evaluate the efficacy of locally ablative
therapy in treating oligometastatic lung cancer. Also, the role of immunotherapy has to be
confirmed in such a setting to help improve outcomes for patients. Clinicians now have an
essential job of identifying which patients can benefit from this therapy.