Oligometastases

Oligometastases, or oligometastatic disease, refers to distant disease that is limited in number and distribution. Niibe et al. defined this as ≤5 metastatic/recurrent lesions with control of the primary lesion . Also, the definition states a maximum of three different metastatic sites .

These metastases can be treated with local measures (surgery, radiation therapy, thermal ablation, etc.) with the aim of increasing survival. This is a shift from traditional thinking where metastatic disease was considered an end-stage disease with limited palliative treatment options only.