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Local Ablative Therapy (LAT) for the Reduction of Minimal Residual Disease in Patients with Stage IV Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Trial Status: complete

This phase II trial tests whether local ablative therapy (LAT) works to reduce minimal residual disease (MRD) levels and control stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared to systemic (whole body) therapy. Systemic therapy (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or a combination of both) are drugs that spread throughout the body to find and damage or destroy tumor cells. LAT is treatment that focuses on and destroys tumors in a certain area of the body (rather than throughout the entire body, like systemic therapy). LAT can include radiation therapy, surgery, and or radiofrequency ablation (using a needle-like probe and high-energy radio waves to destroy tumor cells). MRD is when a very small number of tumor cells can be detected in a patient's blood. Researchers think the presence and rising of MRD levels can predict a relapse (cancer coming back) or progression (cancer getting worse) earlier than cancer imaging (for example, computed tomography [CT] scans). Doctors often use LAT in addition to systemic therapy to treat stage IV NSCLC. However, doctors usually rely on cancer imaging to decide when to start using LAT. Measuring MRD levels rather than relying on imaging may lead to better disease control by beginning treatment with LAT earlier.