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Pazopanib treatment slows progression and stabilizes disease in patients with taxane-resistant cutaneous angiosarcoma

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Abstract

Although cutaneous angiosarcoma (cAS) has one of the worst prognoses among malignant skin tumors, few effective drug options for secondary treatment have been discovered to date because of the limited number of cases. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining pazopanib’s potential as a new cAS treatment option. We retrospectively evaluated five patients with taxane-resistant unresectable cAS treated with pazopanib at a university hospital. Their characteristics and treatment outcomes were retrieved from their records. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), disease progression, and toxicity were evaluated; furthermore, the response to pazopanib was assessed in relation to the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2). The median PFS from the time of pazopanib initiation was 94 days. Two patients showed partial response, two showed stable disease, and one had progressive disease in the case of the best overall response. VEGFR-2 expression was positive in all cases, and patients with high expression had improved median OS compared to that in those with low expression. VEGFR-2 expression was correlated with a longer OS. The most common toxicities were hypertension and anorexia followed by myelosuppression. This is the largest case series reported wherein pazopanib was used for taxane-resistant cAS. Although the cytoreductive effect and survival benefits were not significant in this small sample, we consider pazopanib a valid treatment option for preserving patients’ quality of life. Our results suggest pazopanib treatment slows the progression of disease and stabilizes it in patients with taxane-resistant cAS.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by the National Cancer Center Research and Development Fund (Grant Number 26-A-4). The funder played no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Author contributions

Dai Ogata, Kohei Oashi, Naoya Yamazki, and Tetsuya Tsuchida contributed to manuscript drafting. Dai Ogata, Hiroto Yanagisawa, and Kenji Suzuki contributed to data collection. Dai Ogata analyzed the data.

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Correspondence to Dai Ogata.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

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Ogata, D., Yanagisawa, H., Suzuki, K. et al. Pazopanib treatment slows progression and stabilizes disease in patients with taxane-resistant cutaneous angiosarcoma. Med Oncol 33, 116 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-016-0831-z

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