© 2024 HSP News Service, L.L.C.
In a phase III trial (Ewing 2008R3) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Koch et al found that the addition of treosulfan and melphalan high-dose chemotherapy (TreoMel-HDT) followed by reinfusion of autologous hematopoietic stem cells to consolidation did not improve event-free survival vs ...
In the phase II/III SEAL trial reported in the the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gounder et al found that selinexor significantly improved progression-free survival and time to subsequent treatment in previously treated advanced dedifferentiated liposarcoma, with the greatest benefit observed in...
In the phase III TAPPAS trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Jones et al found that the addition of carotuximab to pazopanib did not improve progression-free survival in patients with advanced angiosarcoma. Carotuximab is an IgG1 antibody that binds endoglin, which is highly expressed on proliferating...
In a French phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Delyon et al found that pembrolizumab produced a high response rate in patients with classic or endemic Kaposi sarcoma with progressive cutaneous extension requiring systemic treatment. As stated by the investigators, “Although the...
Researchers have published an analysis of strategies for treating retroperitoneal soft-tissue sarcoma, which has historically been understudied due to its rarity. The researchers say the trends they identified—particularly the convergence of certain treatments across centers—will help guide the way ...
I still remember having to sit down with her three siblings on that afternoon. It was drizzling, cloudy, and cool—Mother Nature in agreement with the heaviness of what had just taken place. I held them tight. I knew the words I would utter next would change their lives forever. I paused for 10...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, researchers in the Prophylactic Antibiotic Regimens in Tumor Surgery Investigators group found that 5 days vs 1 day of postoperative intravenous antibiotic prophylaxis did not reduce the incidence of surgical site infection and was associated with more...
On November 22, 2021, sirolimus protein-bound particles for injectable suspension (albumin-bound) was approved for treatment of adults with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor.1 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was supported by findings in the...
Emily Z. Keung, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the complex interactions of immune infiltrates and neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in patients with resectable soft-tissue sarcoma. These interactions may hold the key to understanding pathologic response to ICB and ICB resistance (Abstract 379).
When I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of my left femur nearly 20 years ago, I remember telling my parents that I didn’t want to die. The diagnosis was terrifying because all the people I knew who had cancer had passed away, and I thought this cancer would kill me, too. That evening, my dad went...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Leavey et al, the phase III Children’s Oncology Group AEWS1031 trial showed no improvement in event-free or overall survival with the addition of vincristine, topotecan, and cyclophosphamide (VTC) to standard five-drug interval-compressed...
In a report from the Children’s Oncology Group ARST0332 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Venkatamani et al found that risk-based treatment of pediatric and young adult patients with synovial sarcoma produced favorable outcomes in those with nonmetastatic disease. Outcomes in...
In the phase II AMPECT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wagner et al found that the mTOR inhibitor nab-sirolimus produced a substantial rate of durable responses and a high disease control rate in patients with malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumors. As stated by the...
In the phase I/II ITCC-050 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gaspar et al found that the combination of lenvatinib with etoposide/ifosfamide showed antitumor activity, including good progression-free survival outcomes, in patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma. Study Details...
In a small study of 16 patients with angiosarcoma published by Michael Wagner, MD, and colleagues in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 4 patients experienced a partial or complete response to treatment with a combination of the immunotherapies ipilimumab and nivolumab, and another 2 patients ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Yoon-Koo Kang, MD, and colleagues, the phase III VOYAGER trial showed no improvement in progression-free survival with avapritinib vs regorafenib as third- or later-line treatment of patients with molecularly unselected, locally advanced,...
In a European phase II trial (VIT-0910) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Defachelles et al found that the combination of vincristine/irinotecan with vs without temozolomide produced better outcomes—albeit with increased toxicity—in children and adults with relapsed or refractory...
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) published by Kilian E. Salerno, MD, and colleagues in Practical Radiation Oncology provides guidance on the use of radiation therapy to treat adult patients with soft-tissue sarcomas. Recommendations outline optimal...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sant P. Chawla, MD, and colleagues found that the addition of the heterologous prime-boost vaccination regimen CMB305 to atezolizumab did not improve survival outcomes in patients with soft-tissue sarcomas expressing the...
An examination of the online nomogram Sarculator demonstrated it is as effective at predicting overall survival of certain patients with sarcoma in the United States as it is in Europe, according to research presented by Voss et al at the Society of Surgical Oncology 2021 International Conference...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Priority Review to nivolumab as either adjuvant or first-line therapy in several types of gastric cancers, as well as to a novel PD-1 inhibitor for locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal. The FDA also...
In the German phase II PAPGEMO trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Hans-Joachim Schmoll, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that the combination of pazopanib and gemcitabine improved 12-week progression-free survival vs pazopanib alone in patients with anthracycline- or ifosfamide-refractory soft-tissue...
Immune checkpoint inhibitors may prove to be effective in treating patients with two rare cancer types—leptomeningeal metastases and angiosarcoma, according to early-phase clinical trials reported at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), which was held virtually ...
Sarcoma has bedeviled researchers for many years because of its heterogeneity. Sarcoma encompasses more than 100 different subtypes, which makes it difficult to design studies to identify effective therapies. As researchers dig deeper into the constellation of subtypes of sarcoma, some therapies...
In the phase II DOREMY trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Lansu et al found that a reduction in preoperative radiotherapy dose was effective and associated with reduced morbidity in patients with myxoid liposarcoma. A stated by the investigators, “Currently, preoperative radiotherapy for all...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Mrinal Gounder, MD, and colleagues, findings in a cohort of a phase II basket trial showed that the oral EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat produced durable responses in some patients with advanced epithelioid sarcoma with loss of INI1 or SMARCB1 (the gene encoding...
Matti S. Aapro, MD, of the Genolier Cancer Center, reviews the state of the science in sarcoma treatment: specialized surgery, disease diversity, emerging therapies, and the diagnostic approach to soft-tissue disease.
Pembrolizumab monotherapy induced responses in patients with rare sarcomas that varied by histotype, according to findings presented by Jean-Yves Blay, MD, at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 (Abstract 1619O). Methods Dr. Blay presented first results from a cohort of patients with rare sarcomas in...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Bonvalot et al, the phase III EORTC-62092 (STRASS) trial showed that the addition of preoperative radiotherapy to surgery did not improve abdominal recurrence–free survival in patients with primary retroperitoneal sarcoma. Study Details In the open-label trial, ...
In a German Intergroup phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Grünwald et al found that progression-free survival with first-line pazopanib was noninferior to doxorubicin in patients aged 60 years or older with inoperable metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. Pazopanib was also...
Doxorubicin is a standard of care in patients with advanced inoperable soft-tissue sarcoma. In the EPAZ study, German researchers tested whether pazopanib showed comparable efficacy to doxorubicin in the first-line treatment of elderly patients with soft-tissue sarcoma. Grünwald et al reported in...
In an interim analysis of a joint Children’s Oncology Group and NRG Oncology phase II trial (ARST1321) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Aaron R. Weiss, DO, and colleagues found that the addition of pazopanib to preoperative chemoradiotherapy significantly increased the rate of pathologic...
Patricia Pautier, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy, discusses final results of the phase II LMS-02 study, which showed the combination of doxorubicin and trabectedin to be an effective first-line therapy for patients with leiomyosarcoma, with an acceptable safety profile (Abstract 11506).
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Alessandro Gronchi, MD, and colleagues, final results of a phase III trial conducted by the Italian, French, and Polish Sarcoma Groups showed no disease-free or overall survival benefit with use of histology-tailored vs standard...
On May 14, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication of pomalidomide (Pomalyst) to include treating adult patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related Kaposi sarcoma after failure of highly active antiretroviral therapy and those with Kaposi...
Immunotherapy is showing promise for patients with rare cancers, offering new treatment opportunities and clinical trials to those with previously limited options. At the 2020 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium, presenters discussed the use of immunotherapy in three low-incidence cancers: ...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Villano et al found that increased hospital surgical volume was associated with overall improved survival in patients undergoing surgery for retroperitoneal soft-tissue sarcoma. However, increased volume was associated with poorer survival in patients...
In a phase I study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, William D. Tap, MD, and colleagues found that the selective mutant-IDH1 inhibitor ivosidenib produced no objective responses but resulted in durable disease control in a cohort of patients with advanced chondrosarcoma. As noted by...
On January 23, 2020, tazemetostat was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients aged 16 and older with metastatic or locally advanced epithelioid sarcoma not eligible for complete resection.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on the finding of...
In the French phase II CABONE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Italiano et al found that the MET and VEGFR2 inhibitor cabozantinib was active in patients with advanced Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma. Study Details In the multicenter trial, 81 evaluable patients aged ≥ 12 years with progressive ...
Comprehensive profiling of tumor samples taken from patients with osteosarcoma showed that multiple factors contribute to the traditionally poor responses observed with immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment in patients with this malignancy, according to new research published by Wu et al in Nature...
In a single-institution phase II study reported in JAMA Oncology, Kelly et al found that the combination of talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) and pembrolizumab produced durable responses in patients with previously treated advanced sarcoma. As noted by the investigators, T-VEC has been found to...
On January 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to tazemetostat (Tazverik) for adults and pediatric patients aged 16 years and older with metastatic or locally advanced epithelioid sarcoma not eligible for complete resection. “Epithelioid sarcoma accounts...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kelley et al found that pathologic fracture was associated with poorer overall survival among adult—but not pediatric—patients with primary central high-grade osteosarcoma of the extremities. Study Details The study involved retrospective...
The likelihood of a patient responding to immune checkpoint blockade may depend on B cells in the tumor, located within specialized immune-cell clusters known as tertiary lymphoid structures, according to three studies all recently published in Nature. The studies showed that enrichment of B cells...
Edward A. Stadtmauer, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, discusses phase I results of immune cells, modified with CRISPR/Cas9 technology, and infused in three patients (two with multiple myeloma and one with sarcoma). Researchers observed the cells expand and bind to their tumor targets with no serious side effects (Abstract 49).
In the phase III RMS 2005 trial reported by Gianni Bisogno, MD, and colleagues in The Lancet Oncology, maintenance vinorelbine and low-dose continuous cyclophosphamide was associated with nonsignificant improvement in disease-free survival and significantly improved overall survival vs no further...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Dirksen et al, the R2Pulm trial showed no significant event-free or overall survival benefit with busulfan/melphalan high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue (BuMel) vs standard chemotherapy with whole-lung irradiation in patients...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to tepotinib for metastatic non–small cell lung cancer harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations, and Orphan Drug designations to novel chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies in both multiple myeloma ...
The 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting featured a wealth of presentations on important topics. In addition to our regular news coverage of the meeting, we present below some highlights of other studies that add to our knowledge base for treatment of various cancers. Olaratumab in Soft-Tissue Sarcoma...