Annals of Oncology Advance Access originally published online on May 22, 2009
Annals of Oncology 2009 20(8):1439-1444; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdp004
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sacromas and melanoma |
Trabectedin in myxoid liposarcomas (MLS): a long-term analysis of a single-institution series
1 Adult Sarcoma Medical Treatment Unit, Cancer Medicine Department
2 Department of Pathology
3 Department of Radiology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy
4 PharmaMar R&D, Madrid, Spain
5 Department of Oncology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan
6 Department of Surgery, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy
* Correspondence to: Dr F. Grosso, Adult Sarcoma Medical Treatment Unit, Fondazione IRCCS "Istituto Nazionale Tumori", Via G. Venezian 1, 20133 Milan, Italy; E-mail: federica.grosso{at}istitutotumori.mi.it
Background: Trabectedin has been approved in Europe as second-line therapy for advanced soft tissue sarcomas. A previous analysis showed that myxoid liposarcomas (MLS) are particularly sensitive to the drug. We report on the long-term efficacy of trabectedin in a subgroup of that series.
Methods: Since September 2002, 32 advanced pretreated MLS patients received trabectedin at our center. Data were reviewed focusing on their long-term outcome.
Results: Trabectedin was given as a 24-h continuous infusion every 21 days. A total of 376 and a median of 12 courses per patient (range 2–26; interquartiles range (IQR) 8–15) were delivered. Response rate per RECIST was 50% [95% confidence interval (CI) 32% to 68%], median progression-free survival (PFS) was 17 months (95% CI 13.5–30.1) and median overall survival is still not reached. In 10 patients, therapy was stopped in the absence of any evident disease, mostly after complete surgery of residual lesions. In these 10 patients, at a median follow-up of 25 months, PFS was 28.1 months (95% CI 25.6–36.4) from treatment start.
Discussion: These data indicate that the high response rate of MLS to trabectedin translates into prolonged PFS. Surgery of residual metastatic disease is already used quite extensively in metastatic MLS. Trabectedin may give further significance to this kind of surgery.
Key words: liposarcoma, myxoid liposarcoma, round-cell liposarcoma, trabectedin
Received for publication December 12, 2008. Accepted for publication December 17, 2008.