Stereotactic body radiation therapy for metastatic lung metastases

Although systemic therapy is standard management for patients with metastatic disease, several recent reports have indicated that an addition of local therapies including stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for patients with oligometastatic disease (OMD) could improve survival. The lung is the most common site of distant metastasis from many solid tumors, and the strategy of SBRT, such as dose-fraction schedules, timing, etc., would be different depending on the type of primary tumor, location, and patterns of OMD. This review describes the role of SBRT with curative-intent for patients with pulmonary OMD for each of these variables. First, differences according to the type of primary tumor, for which many studies suggest that SBRT-mediated local control (LC) for patients with pulmonary OMD from colorectal cancer (CRC) is less successful than for those from non-CRC tumors. In addition, higher dose-fraction schedules seemed to correlate with higher LC; hence, different SBRT treatment strategies may be needed for patients with pulmonary OMD from CRC relative to other tumors. Second, differences according to location, where the safety of SBRT for peripheral pulmonary tumors has been relatively well established, but safety for central pulmonary tumors including pulmonary OMD is still considered controversial. To determine the optimal dose-fraction schedules, further data from prospective studies are still needed. Third, differences according to the patterns of OMD, the number of metastases and the timing of SBRT whereby 1–5 lesions in most patients and patients with synchronous or metachronous OMD are considered good candidates for SBRT. We conclude that there are still several problems in defining suitable indications for local therapy including SBRT, and that further prospective studies are required to resolve these issues.