Long-term Outcome of Surgery or Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Lung Oligometastases

Local treatment for pulmonary oligometastases (one to five lesions) using metastasectomy or stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) was investigated in a cohort that received multidisciplinary tumor board-based treatment decisions. The first choice of treatment was surgery; SABR was recommended in cases of adverse clinical factors. Propensity score-adjusted and unadjusted overall survival was the primary end point; local control and time to failure of a local-only treatment strategy were also analyzed. With a minimum follow-up time of 5.8 years, the 5-year overall survival rate was 41% for surgery (n = 68) and 45% for SABR (n = 42). Again not different for the two modalities, 40% of patients were free from failure of a local-only treatment strategy, and 20% were free from any progression at 5 years. The 5-year local control rate was 83% for SABR and 81% for surgery. Despite treatment selection clearly disadvantaging SABR against surgery, even unadjusted outcome was not better when pulmonary oligometastases were surgically removed rather than irradiated.