Sarcoma News

Patients with primary soft tissue sarcomas of the extremity who underwent intensity-modulated radiation therapy experienced significantly reduced rates of local recurrence compared with those who underwent conventional external beam radiation therapy, according to study results.

The investigational hypoxia-targeted drug TH-302 was associated with PFS, OS and tumor response rates that compared favorably with other first-line agents for soft tissue sarcoma, according to results of a phase 2 study.

Survivors of osteosarcoma demonstrated an increased risk for second malignant neoplasms, and the risk persisted long after the conclusion of osteosarcoma treatment, according to study results.

Late recurrence in most patients treated for soft tissue sarcoma is uncommon, according to study results.

Sandoz Inc. recently announced that the FDA has accepted its Biologics License Application for filgrastim, which was filed under the new biosimilar pathway created in the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009.

Survival in patients with unresectable conventional central chondrosarcoma is poor, yet systemic treatment and radiotherapy improved OS in select patients, according to results of a retrospective study.

The time to diagnosis of Ewing tumors was long and did not improve over time, but it did not appear to affect survival, surgical outcome or metastasis, according to study results.

The theme of this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting, “Science and Society,” emphasized patient-centered focus — looking at the full implications of a study result for patient quality of life — and the overall societal value, or significance, of a finding or treatment.

There are about 400 new cases of rhabdomyosarcoma diagnosed in children younger than 19 years in this country every year. Part of the clinical dilemma in treating this disease is that we look at it as a single disease, but it is not. There have been no net improvements in outcomes for more than 20 years, and local treatment failure remains the dominant risk for most patients. In this study, there was no difference in 2-year survival between the two groups. Based on these results, a ‘with or without temsirolimus’ question will be the basis of the next INT-RISK study. It is not clear that these results are transferable to patients with localized tumors.

CHICAGO — A risk-based treatment strategy categorized pediatric patients with nonrhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas into distinct prognostic groups while utilizing less radiotherapy at lower doses, according to findings from the Children’s Oncology Group study ARST0332 presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.