Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy versus metastasectomy for pulmonary metastases: guiding treatment in the oligometastatic era

Local ablative therapies in oligometastatic NSCLC-upfront or outback?-a narrative review

Patients with oligometastatic (OM) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have favorable outcomes compared to patients presenting with diffuse metastatic disease. Recent randomized trials have demonstrated safety and efficacy signals for local ablative therapies with radiotherapy, surgery, or radiofrequency ablation for OM-NSCLC patients alongside systemic therapies. However, it remains unclear whether local ablative therapy (LAT) should be offered either upfront preceding systemic therapies or following initial systemic therapies as local consolidative therapy (LCT). Establishing optimal timing of RT and systemic therapy combinations is essential to maximize efficacy while maintaining safety. Most published randomized trial evidence surrounding the benefits of LAT and systemic therapies were generated from OM-NSCLC patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy agents. With increasing use of novel agents such as targeted therapies (i.e., tyrosine kinase inhibitors) and immune checkpoint inhibitors in management of metastatic NSCLC patients, LAT timing may need to be modulated based on the use of specific agents. This narrative review will discuss the current evidence on either upfront LAT or LCT for OM-NSCLC based on published trials and cohort studies. We briefly explored the possible biological mechanisms of the potential clinical advantages of either approach. This review also summarized the ongoing trials incorporating both upfront LAT and LCT, and considerations for future LAT strategies.

Meta-analysis of survival outcomes following surgical and non surgical treatments for colorectal cancer metastasis to the lung

BACKGROUND

Controversy exists regarding the optimal management of colorectal lung metastases (CRLM). This meta-analysis compared surgical (Surg) versus interventional (chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy) and observational non-surgical (NSurg) management of CRLM.

METHODS

A systematic review of the major databases including Medline, Embase, SCOPUS and the Cochrane library was performed.

RESULTS

One randomized and nine observational studies including 2232 patients: 1551 (69%) comprised the Surg cohort, 521 (23%) the interventional NSurg group and 160 (7%) the observational NSurg group. A significantly higher overall survival (OS) was observed when Surg was compared to interventional NSurg at 1 year (Surg 88%, 310/352; interventional NSurg 64%, 245/383; odds ratio (OR) 2.77 (confidence interval (CI) 1.94-3.97), P = 0.001), at 3 years (Surg 59%, 857/1444; interventional NSurg 26%, 138/521; OR 2.61 (CI 1.65-4.15), P = 0.002), at 5 years (Surg 47%, 533/1144; interventional NSurg 23%, 45/196; OR 3.24 (CI 1.42-7.39), P = 0.009) and at 10 years (Surg 27%, 306/1122; interventional NSurg 1%, 2/168; OR 15.64 (CI 1.87-130.76), P = 0.031). Surg was associated with a greater OS than observational NSurg at only 1 year (Surg 92%, 98/107; observational NSurg 83%, 133/160; OR 6.69 (CI 1.33-33.58), P = 0.037) and was similar to observational NSurg at all other OS time points. Comparable survival was observed among Surg and overall NSurg cohorts at 3- and 5-year survival in articles published within the last 3 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Recent evidence suggests comparable survival with Surg and NSurg modalities for CRLM, contrasting to early evidence where Surg had an improved survival. Significant selection bias contributes to this finding, prompting the need for high powered randomized controlled trials and registry data.

Metastasis-directed therapy for oligometastatic urological tumours: still no second-hand news

For patients presenting with limited metastatic disease burden, known as the oligometastatic state of disease, a more aggressive treatment approach targeting the new or progressive metastatic lesions might improve patient outcome, with no or only limited toxicity to be expected from the treatment. This review provides an overview of the existing evidence and on-going trials on oligometastatic disease and metastasis-directed therapy in the field of renal, bladder and prostate cancer.