Ablative radiotherapy for polymetastatic disease: a new kid on the block

In polymetastatic cancer, radiotherapy (RT) serves as a palliative and symptom-directed approach. Based on modern RT, ablative irradiation has acquired a central role as a metastasis-directed therapy (MDT). MDT is under investigation as a treatment option in patients with widespread metastatic disease.

We aimed to describe the emerging field of radiotherapy-based MDT in polymetastatic disease.

New innovative approaches in radiation oncology allow for the precise and safe delivery of ablative doses to multiple disease sites throughout the body in the same treatment session and the tracking of tumors in real time without interruptions during systemic therapy. This treatment strategy could work synergistically with systemic therapy in two ways: [a] ablating high-risk or symptomatic metastases in polymetastatic patients may prevent further disease spread and reduce the overall tumor burden, even while systemic therapy continues to manage micrometastatic disease elsewhere; [b] delivering high doses of radiation to the tumor site leads to microenvironment modifications, inducing immunogenic cell death, releasing tumor antigens, and enhancing immune surveillance and systemic therapy efficacy. Several clinical trials are ongoing to improve tailored treatment strategies in the polymetastatic setting, which is one of the goals of precision medicine.