Oligometastatic disease (OMD) represents a clinical and anatomical manifestation between localized and polymetastatic disease. In prostate cancer, as with other cancers, recognition of OMD enables focal, metastases-directed therapies. These therapies potentially shorten or postpone the use of systemic treatment and may delay further metastatic progression, thus increasing overall survival. To validate their efficacy, metastases-directed therapies require imaging methods that definitively recognize OMD and reliably monitor response, particularly to avoid morbidity of inappropriately treating disease subsequently recognized as polymetastatic. This paper reviews current imaging methods used for identifying metastatic prostate cancer at first diagnosis, at biochemical recurrence (BCR), or at the castration resistant stage. Standard imaging methods recommended by current guidelines have insufficient diagnostic accuracy for reliably diagnosing OMD. Modern imaging methods using positron emission tomography /computed tomography (PET/CT) with tumour specific radiotracers (choline or PSMA ligand), and increasingly even whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), allow earlier and more precise identification of metastases. The EORTC Imaging Group suggests clinical algorithms for integrating modern imaging methods into the care pathway at the various stages of prostate cancer in order to identify OMD. Clinical trials utilizing modern imaging methods are proposed for evaluating the benefits of metastasis-directed therapies.
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