# Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for oligometastatic disease

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/sabr-oligometastases/  
OnCo record `sabr-oligometastases` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Treating every visible metastasis with ablative doses when there are only a few, on the idea that some patients with limited spread can still be controlled or cured.

## Summary

The oligometastatic hypothesis, proposed in 1995, holds that some cancers spread to a handful of sites before becoming widespread, and that ablating those sites can change the course of the disease. The SABR-COMET randomised phase 2 trial reported in 2019 that stereotactic treatment of one to five metastases lengthened survival compared with standard care, with some added toxicity. Phase 3 trials (SABR-COMET-3 and -10, NRG-BR002 in breast cancer, and prostate-specific studies) are now testing the approach cancer by cancer, and it has become common practice in prostate, lung and kidney cancer with limited spread.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: emerging
- Last checked: 2026-09-16
- Tags: radiation-wave1
- Principle: Ablative doses to every detectable metastasis, combined with systemic therapy, aim to eliminate the visible disease rather than merely palliate it.
- Since: 2019
- Strengths: Non-invasive ablation of multiple sites; Can delay the next line of systemic therapy; Survival signal in randomised phase 2
- Limitations: Phase 3 evidence still partial and cancer specific; Depends on sensitive staging (PSMA PET); Toxicity when targets are near critical organs

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligometastasis

## Connected records

- cancers: [Metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread)](https://onco.cc/cancers/metastatic-cancer/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/), [Renal cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/rcc/)
- fronts: [Radiation Therapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/radiation/)
- technologies: [PSMA PET](https://onco.cc/technologies/psma-pet/), [SBRT / SABR (stereotactic radiotherapy)](https://onco.cc/technologies/sbrt/)
- trials: [SABR-COMET: stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for oligometastatic cancer](https://onco.cc/trials/sabr-comet/)

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