Advances in the Treatment of Oligometastatic Disease: What the Radiologist Needs to Know to Guide Patient Management

Steven P Rowe; Hazem Hawasli; Elliot K Fishman; Pamela T Johnson

doi:10.1016/j.acra.2015.11.006

Advances in the Treatment of Oligometastatic Disease: What the Radiologist Needs to Know to Guide Patient Management

Acad Radiol. 2016 Mar;23(3):326-8. doi: 10.1016/j.acra.2015.11.006. Epub 2016 Jan 15.

Authors

Steven P Rowe¹, Hazem Hawasli¹, Elliot K Fishman¹, Pamela T Johnson²

Affiliations

¹ The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287.
² The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 26781202
DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2015.11.006

Abstract

Rationale and objectives: An ever-expanding body of biological, genetic, and clinical evidence has brought to light the presence of the oligometastatic state of cancer, which is considered between localized disease and widespread metastases. Indeed, in some patients with oligometastatic disease, curative therapy is possible.

Conclusions: For select cancer histologies, aggressive focal therapy of oligometastatic lesions is already the clinical standard of care (i.e. colorectal cancer and sarcomas), while for other tumor types the evidence is still emerging (i.e. prostate, breast, etc.). It is increasingly important, therefore, for the radiologist interpreting oncology patients' staging or restaging examinations to be aware of those diseases for which targeted therapy of oligometastases may be undertaken to effectively guide such management. The improved imaging resolution provided by technological advances promise to aid in the detection of subtle sites of disease to ensure the identification of patients with oligometastases amenable to targeted treatment.

Keywords: Cancer imaging; Oligometastatic disease.

MeSH terms

Breast Neoplasms / therapy
Carcinoma, Renal Cell / therapy
Colorectal Neoplasms / therapy
Female
Humans
Kidney Neoplasms / therapy
Lung Neoplasms / therapy
Male
Molecular Targeted Therapy
Neoplasm Metastasis / diagnosis
Neoplasm Metastasis / therapy*
Neoplasm Staging
Neoplasms / diagnosis
Neoplasms / therapy*
Patient Care Planning*
Prostatic Neoplasms / therapy
Sarcoma / therapy
Standard of Care