Oligo-what?

Ever since the Gomez and Palma data suggested a possible survival advantage with consolidative radiation for oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), it's become quite the hot topic in radiation oncology. If you aren’t sure about that, just attend the 2019 ASTRO Annual Meeting. An important question, though, is how exactly to define “oligometastatic.” An expert panel from 36 departments across Europe have created a consensus report on the definition of synchronous oligometastatic NSCLC. In a nutshell, patients with NSCLC with 5 or fewer metastases in 3 or fewer organs can be considered “oligometastatic” following staging with FDG-PET and brain MRI. Let’s all be sure to remember these are the early days of the oligometastatic era because these somewhat arbitrary numerical definitions sound a lot like the old 1-3 brain mets limit for radiosurgery. TBL: A European consensus statement on the definition of synchronous oligometastatic NSCLC has been created, which will potentially inform future clinical trial design, appropriate patient selection for local therapy, and (when we get American definitions) payer coverage. | Dingemans, J Thorac Oncol 2019