PHILADELPHIA (October 21, 2022)—Jessica Karen Wong, MD, MEng, of Fox Chase Cancer Center will discuss new trends in the management of oligometastatic prostate cancer, including the increased use of localized treatments such as radiation that are increasing local control and improving outcomes.
Wong’s presentation this weekend will be part of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) PA Conference. The free conference is designed to equip healthcare providers with the latest strategies to improve clinical practice and treatment outcomes in cancer care.
“Oligometastatic prostate cancer is an in-between state where the cancer has spread from the original site in the prostate to a few other locations,” said Wong, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Fox Chase.
“Previously, when prostate cancer had spread beyond the prostate, curative therapy was no longer used and hormone therapy was your only option. Now patients in an oligometastatic state can benefit both from standard metastatic treatment and treatments that were previously reserved for localized prostate cancer patients alone,” added Wong, who is also assistant director of the Fox Chase Radiation Oncology Residency and Fellowship Training Program.
As newer diagnostic tests such as Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen PET scan become more widely used, Wong said, more patients will likely be classified as having oligometastatic disease. These diagnostic tests are much more sensitive and can find small areas of prostate cancer that would not have been detected using more traditional imaging.
“Oligometastatic patients are living longer and with less side effects due to modern treatment. Newer systemic therapy agents like enzalutamide, apalutamide, and abiraterone work on the androgen receptor pathway and can increase the efficacy of traditional androgen deprivation therapy,” Wong said.
Additionally, localized treatments like radiation to the prostate and stereotactic body radiation therapy to oligometastatic sites are also increasing local control, improving outcomes, and potentially reducing the need for systemic therapy, she added.
“As patients are living longer with oligometastatic disease, a number of new treatments are available for them, but the optimal combination of treatments is still unknown. A future goal is to find ways for these treatment to work together to have the best outcomes for patients.”