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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.

Sec. Pharmacology of Anti-Cancer Drugs

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1620922

This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Ovarian Cancer TherapeuticsView all 6 articles

Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) in Oligometastatic Ovarian Cancer (OMOC): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Outcomes and Toxicity Profiles

Provisionally accepted
Mauro Francesco Pio  MaioranoMauro Francesco Pio Maiorano1,2*Brigida Anna  MaioranoBrigida Anna Maiorano3
  • 1University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
  • 2IRCCS Istituto Tumori "Giovanni Paolo II", Bari, Italy, Bari, Italy
  • 3IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy, Milan, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Introduction: Oligometastatic ovarian cancer (OMOC) represents a distinct clinical state with a limited metastatic burden, potentially amenable to local ablative strategies. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) has emerged as a promising treatment in this context, offering high-dose precision with minimal toxicity. However, evidence of its role in OMOC remains fragmented. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating SBRT in patients with OMOC, focusing on clinical outcomes, including local control (LC), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and grade ≥3 toxicities. Eligible studies were identified through a comprehensive search across PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Library up to March 2025. Data synthesis involved pooled analysis using random-effects models. Results: Eight retrospective or prospective studies, encompassing 594 patients, were included. The majority of patients had received at least two prior lines of therapy. SBRT was delivered to ≤5 lesions, commonly during systemic treatment-free intervals or maintenance with PARP inhibitors. One-year LC ranged from 86.7% to 94.4%, and two-year LC ranged from 60.9% to 88.9%. Median PFS ranged from 7.4 to 15.0 months, and median OS from 21.0 to 43.0 months. Grade ≥3 toxicities were rare (0–6.1%), and no treatment-related deaths were reported. Discussion: SBRT demonstrates favorable LC and survival outcomes in selected OMOC patients while maintaining a low toxicity profile, despite current evidence being descriptive and thus to be interpreted with caution. SBRT use during systemic treatment breaks or as a tool to control oligoprogressive disease under maintenance therapy suggests a potential role in extending treatment-free intervals. These findings support SBRT as a valuable component of a multidisciplinary approach to OMOC and underscore the need for prospective, context-specific trials to validate these results.

Keywords: ovarian cancer, oligometastatic ovarian cancer, ovarian cancer radiotherapy, advanced ovarian cancer survival, stereotactic body radiotherapy ovarian cancer

Received: 30 Apr 2025; Accepted: 29 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Maiorano and Maiorano. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mauro Francesco Pio Maiorano, m.maiorano23@studenti.uniba.it

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