TY - JOUR
T1 - Adjuvant chemotherapy for soft tissue sarcoma
AU - Casali, Paolo G.
AU - Picci, Piero
PY - 2005/7
Y1 - 2005/7
N2 - Purpose of review: To review current state-of-the-art knowledge about adjuvant medical therapy in adult soft tissue sarcomas. Recent findings: Most recent contributions have added nonrandomized evidence to previously available controlled clinical trials, which were undertaken from the 1970s. Again, results are conflicting, with a limited benefit suggested by some retrospective analyses and denied by others. While a delay in relapse is likely to occur in a fraction of patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, a permanent benefit has been more difficult to prove. This result is consistent with findings from previous clinical trials, which pointed to a slight benefit from Doxorubicin-based adjuvant chemotherapy and a possibly higher, although less evidence-based, benefit from anthracycline plus Ifosfamide regimens. Summary: Overall, adjuvant chemotherapy may give some benefit in soft tissue sarcoma. If any, it is likely to be of limited degree, confined to the highest-risk patients, and requiring a fully active chemotherapy regimen. This was mainly shown for extremity soft tissue sarcoma but may also apply to other primary sites. The value of molecular-targeted therapy as an adjuvant for high-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor patients is a different subject awaiting long-term results of ongoing trials.
AB - Purpose of review: To review current state-of-the-art knowledge about adjuvant medical therapy in adult soft tissue sarcomas. Recent findings: Most recent contributions have added nonrandomized evidence to previously available controlled clinical trials, which were undertaken from the 1970s. Again, results are conflicting, with a limited benefit suggested by some retrospective analyses and denied by others. While a delay in relapse is likely to occur in a fraction of patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, a permanent benefit has been more difficult to prove. This result is consistent with findings from previous clinical trials, which pointed to a slight benefit from Doxorubicin-based adjuvant chemotherapy and a possibly higher, although less evidence-based, benefit from anthracycline plus Ifosfamide regimens. Summary: Overall, adjuvant chemotherapy may give some benefit in soft tissue sarcoma. If any, it is likely to be of limited degree, confined to the highest-risk patients, and requiring a fully active chemotherapy regimen. This was mainly shown for extremity soft tissue sarcoma but may also apply to other primary sites. The value of molecular-targeted therapy as an adjuvant for high-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor patients is a different subject awaiting long-term results of ongoing trials.
KW - Adjuvant therapy
KW - Chemotherapy
KW - Soft tissue sarcoma
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U2 - 10.1097/01.cco.0000166652.15546.4f
DO - 10.1097/01.cco.0000166652.15546.4f
M3 - Article
C2 - 15933469
AN - SCOPUS:21344440027
VL - 17
SP - 361
EP - 365
JO - Current Opinion in Oncology
JF - Current Opinion in Oncology
SN - 1040-8746
IS - 4
ER -