Sarcoma News

Results from an analysis of tissue sections from 58 patients with osteosarcoma show that the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway genes, including VEGFA, are amplified in osteosarcoma.

Results from a small retrospective study of patients with hemangiopericytomas and malignant solitary fibrous tumors suggest that the combination of temozolomide and bevacizumab is well-tolerated and may provide clinical benefit.

A review of databases for sarcoma, gastric, urology, breast and gynecology cancers showed that patients diagnosed with soft tissue sarcomas developed lymphoma at three times the rate of patients with other solid tumors.

High-dose methotrexate chemotherapy is used to treat a variety of malignancies, including lymphoid leukemias, lymphomas and sarcomas. Methotrexate inhibits dihydrofolate reductase, depleting cells of reduced folates necessary for purine biosynthesis. Achieving high serum levels of high-dose methotrexate takes advantage of several pharmacologic characteristics, including entering the cell by passive diffusion; achieving higher central nervous system concentrations; better competition with reduced folates for dihydrofolate reductase binding; and increased production of high-dose methotrexate polyglutamates, which are more slowly eliminated from the cell.

In some patients with intermediate-risk rhabdomyosacroma, earlier radiotherapy may help prevent local progression of disease, according to a retrospective study.

Survivors of childhood Ewing sarcoma are at increased risk for mortality, are more likely to develop subsequent malignant neoplasms and are more likely than their siblings to have severe, life-threatening, or disabling chronic health conditions, according to new data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

ASCO 2010 Annual Meeting

Preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy plus regional hyperthermia were more clinically effective than chemotherapy alone in patients with high-risk soft tissue sarcoma, according to findings from a phase-3 study.

Figitumumab, a fully human IgG2 monoclonal antibody targeting the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor, was found to be well tolerated and demonstrated antitumor activity in a phase-1 study of adult and pediatric patients with sarcoma or Ewing’s sarcoma.

ECCO 15 – ESMO 34 Multidisciplinary Congress