Integrated molecular and clinical staging defines the spectrum of metastatic cancer

Abstract

The elimination of metastases remains one of the major challenges in the curative treatment of patients with cancer. Therefore, most patients with metastatic disease typically receive systemic agents, which prolong survival and alleviate symptoms but are rarely curative. The oligometastatic paradigm challenges the prevailing view of metastasis as a disseminated process and proposes the existence of a spectrum of biological virulence within metastatic lesions. In this Perspectives article, we present evidence supporting our hypothesis that integrated clinical and molecular classification of metastases along the spectrum of disease influences the staging and treatment of patients with cancer.