Oligometastatic Prostate Cancer
OMPC (OligoMetastatic Prostate Cancer) is diagnosed when cancer cells transfer from the original tumour site and on into other parts of the body (metastasis), where new metastatic tumours then develop (an example of this would be prostate cancer transferring to the liver). It’s hoped that treatment of metastatic tumours will become more readily available as research continues.
Oligometastatic Treatment
Treatment of OMPC typically involves ADT (Androgen-Deprivation Therapy), which is sometimes used in conjunction with other medicinal therapies. Focal therapies such as HIFU, Cyberknife, IMRT external beam radiotherapy are also used to target the tumours specifically; these too have proven beneficial and studies reflect an increased survival rate amongst patients, particularly those with low levels of cancer.
Ongoing research
Collaborative, widespread research into OMPC continues and as aspects such as biology analysis, diagnosis accuracy and imaging capability continue to develop and improve, so too does our understanding of OMPC. Clinical trials could potentially serve as a beneficial last step, ahead of taking an aggressive, more direct course of treatment that some patients prefer.
Definition: National Cancer Institute: United States, April 2020
Leave A Comment?