Targeted Treatment of a Small Number of Metastases Delays Disease Progression

Researchers combined the results of seven clinical trials involving 574 men with oligometastatic prostate cancer, meaning the cancer had spread to five or fewer sites. The goal was to determine whether treating these individual metastatic spots with surgery or highly focused radiation—called metastasis-directed therapy (MDT)—could improve outcomes.

The analysis showed that men who received MDT in addition to standard treatment had a significantly longer period before their cancer worsened. They also went longer before new tumors appeared on imaging studies and before their cancer became resistant to hormone therapy.

Although men receiving MDT also appeared to live longer overall, this difference was not statistically significant, meaning more research is needed to determine whether the treatment extends survival.

These results suggest that treating a limited number of metastatic tumors can delay disease progression and postpone the development of hormone-resistant prostate cancer. Ongoing studies will help determine which patients are most likely to benefit from this increasingly common treatment approach.

The Lancet Oncology. February 2026