Dr. Vargas on Determining Role of SBRT Oligometastatic Prostate Cancer

Carlos E. Vargas, MD, radiation oncologist, Mayo Clinic, examines the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in oligometastatic prostate cancer.

The role of SBRT in oligometastatic disease is currently emerging, says Vargas. There are data from 4 randomized trials examining this approach in this patient population. Two of these trials are evaluating SBRT without any systemic therapy, and they are showing that radiation therapy delays disease progression. There are also data on radiation therapy with systemic therapy which suggest that radiation therapy improves median overall survival (OS) for about 1 year.

There are also positive data with treating the primary cancer with systemic therapy at the same time as SBRT, concludes Vargas.