Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

ASCO update – what is new in the systemic treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcomas?

  • short review
  • Published:
memo - Magazine of European Medical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a rare and heterogeneous group of malignant tumors that substantially differ in the underlying biology, natural course and treatment response. In locally advanced or metastatic disease, systemic treatment represents the main therapeutic approach. Anthracycline-based chemotherapy and its combination with ifosfamide has been used as the gold standard in the first-line treatment of advanced disease for decades; however, as increasing evidence favors the use of histology-tailored therapy, novel cytotoxic agents and targeted therapies are currently under intense investigation. Additionally, immunotherapeutic agents have been explored in several STS studies, showing promising results in specific histological subtypes. This article provides a brief overview of the standard systemic treatment options in advanced STS and a summary of the highlights of the STS trials presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting 2017.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fletcher CDM, Bridge JA, Hogendoorn P, Mertens F. WHO classification of tumours of soft tissue and Bone, 4th ed. WHO classification of tumours. vol 5. Lyon: IARC Press; 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Stiller CA, Trama A, Serraino D, Rossi S, Navarro C, Chirlaque MD, et al. RARECARE Working Group. Descriptive epidemiology of sarcomas in Europe: report from the RARECARE project. Eur J Cancer. 2013;49(3):684–95. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2012.09.011.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Cormier JN, Pollock RE. Soft tissue sarcomas. CA Cancer J Clin. 2004;54(2):94–109.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Blum RH, Edmonson J, Ryan L, Pelletier L. Efficacy of ifosfamide in combination with doxorubicin for the treatment of metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 1993;31(Suppl 2):238–40.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Demetri GD, von Mehren M, Jones RL, Hensley ML, Schuetze SM, Staddon A, et al. Efficacy and safety of Trabectedin or Dacarbazine for metastatic Liposarcoma or Leiomyosarcoma after failure of conventional chemotherapy: Results of a phase III randomized Multicenter clinical trial. J Clin Oncol. 2016;34(8):786–93. doi:10.1200/JCO.2015.62.4734.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. van der Graaf WT, Blay JY, Chawla SP, Kim DW, Bui-Nguyen B, Casali PG, et al. Pazopanib for metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma (PALETTE): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2012;379(9829):1879–86. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60651-5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Schöffski P, Chawla S, Maki RG, Italiano A, Gelderblom H, Choy E, et al. Eribulin versus dacarbazine in previously treated patients with advanced liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma: A randomised, open-label, multicentre, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2016;387(10028):1629–37. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01283-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Tap WD, Jones RL, Van Tine BA, Chmielowski B, Elias AD, Adkins D, et al. Olaratumab and doxorubicin versus doxorubicin alone for treatment of soft-tissue sarcoma: An open-label phase 1b and randomised phase 2 trial. Lancet. 2016;388(10043):488–97. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30587-6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Chawla SP, Ganjoo KN, Schuetze S, Papai Z, Van Tine BA, Choy E, et al. Phase III study of aldoxorubicin vs investigators’ choice as treatment for relapsed/refractory soft tissue sarcomas. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(suppl), abstr. 11000.

  10. Pardoll DM. The blockade of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy. Nat Rev Cancer. 2012;12(4):252–64. doi:10.1038/nrc3239.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Tawbi HAH, Burgess M, Crowley J, Van Tine B, Hu J, Schuetze S, et al. Safety and efficacy of PD-1 blockade using pembrolizumab in patients with advanced soft tissue (STS) and bone sarcomas (BS): Results of SARC028–A multicenter phase II study. J Clin Oncol. 2016;34(suppl):abstr 11006.

  12. Burgess MA, Bolejack V, Van Tine BA, Schuetze S, Hu J, D’Angelo SP, et al. Multicenter phase II study of pembrolizumab (P) in advanced soft tissue (STS) and bone sarcomas (BS): Final results of SARC028 and biomarker analyses. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(suppl):abstr. 11008.

  13. D’Angelo SP, Mahoney MR, Van Tine BA, Atkins JN, Milhem MM, Tap WD, et al. A multi-center phase II study of nivolumab +/- ipilimumab for patients with metastatic sarcoma (Alliance A091401). J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(suppl):abstr. 11007.

  14. Stacchiotti S, Negri T, Libertini M, Palassini E, Marrari A, De Troia B, et al. Sunitinib malate in solitary fibrous tumor (SFT). Ann Oncol. 2012;23(12):3171–9. doi:10.1093/annonc/mds143.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Broto JM, Stacchiotti S, Lopez-Pousa A, Redondo A, Bernabeu D, Casali PG. Multi-institutional European single-arm phase II trial of pazopanib in advanced malignant/dedifferentiated solitary fibrous tumors (SFT): A collaborative Spanish (GEIS), Italian (ISG), and French (FSG) sarcoma groups study. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(suppl):abstr. 11003.

  16. Judson I, Scurr M, Gardner K, Barquin E, Marotti M, Collins B, et al. Phase II study of cediranib in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors or soft-tissue sarcoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2014;20(13):3603–12. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-13-1881.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Kummar S, Allen D, Monks A, Polley EC, Hose CD, Ivy SP, et al. Cediranib for metastatic alveolar soft part sarcoma. J Clin Oncol. 2013;31(18):2296–302. doi:10.1200/JCO.2012.47.4288.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Judson IR, Morden JP, Leahy MG, Bhadri V, Campbell-Hewson Q, Cubedo R, et al. Activity of cediranib in alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) confirmed by CAPSP (cediranib in ASPS), an international, randomized phase II trial (C2130/A12118). J Clin Oncol. 2017;35(suppl):abstr. 11004.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Clinical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria

    Joanna Szkandera MD

Authors
  1. Joanna Szkandera MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joanna Szkandera MD.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

J. Szkandera declares that she has no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Szkandera, J. ASCO update – what is new in the systemic treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcomas?. memo 10, 233–236 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12254-017-0346-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12254-017-0346-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation