Skubitz, Keith M.

The treatment of sarcoma necessitates a collaborative approach, given its rarity and complex management. At a single institution, multidisciplinary teams of specialists determine and execute treatment plans involving surgical, radiation, and medical management. Treatment guidelines for systemic therapies in advanced or nonresectable soft tissue sarcoma have advanced in recent years as new immunotherapies and targeted therapies become available. Collaboration between institutions is necessary to facilitate accrual to clinical trials. Here, we describe the success of the Midwest Sarcoma Trials Partnership (MWSTP) in creating a network encompassing large academic centers and local community sites. We propose a new model utilizing online platforms to expand the reach of clinical expertise for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma.

AbstractBackgroundSarcomas are rare diagnoses but are seen with relative frequency in adolescents and young adults and thus can present in pregnancy. We sought to study the administration of anthracyclines and/or ifosfamide in pregnancy‐associated sarcomas.Patients and MethodsWe conducted a multi‐institutional retrospective study, identifying sarcoma patients who received anthracyclines and/or ifosfamide during pregnancy. Chart review identified variables related to demographics, cancer diagnosis, therapies, and outcome of the patient and fetus. Wilcoxon rank‐sum test compared two independent samples.ResultsWe identified 13 patients at seven institutions with sarcoma who received anthracyclines and/or ifosfamide during pregnancy, including four bone sarcomas and nine soft tissue sarcomas diagnosed at a mean gestational age of 16.7 ± 5.9 weeks. Only nine patients had live births (9/13, 69.2%), with mean gestational age of 30.8 ± 3.8 weeks at delivery. The four patients with pregnancy loss all received both doxorubicin and ifosfamide, with chemotherapy initiated at 15.5 weeks as compared with 21.3 weeks for those patients with live births (p = 0.016).ConclusionIn this multi‐institutional study of sarcoma chemotherapy regimens administered during pregnancy, we found a high rate of fetal demise that was seen only in patients receiving both doxorubicin and ifosfamide and statistically more likely with chemotherapy initiation earlier in the second trimester. While limited by a small sample size, our study represents the largest study of sarcoma patients that received anthracyclines and/or ifosfamide in pregnancy thus far reported and supports development of an international registry to study concerns raised by our study.

Although checkpoint inhibitors have been approved in multiple cancers, they are still under investigation in soft tissue sarcoma (STS). We conducted a retrospective review to report the safety, efficacy, and prognostic factors related to checkpoint inhibitors in STS. A sequential cohort of metastatic STS patients from four institutions treated with checkpoint inhibitors was assembled. Logistic and Cox regression models were applied to determine the effect of patient characteristics, prior treatment, and baseline factors on achieving the best overall response of complete response (CR), partial response (PR), or stable disease (SD) as determined by the treating physician. Eighty-eight patients with two median prior therapies received checkpoint inhibitors. Treatments included pembrolizumab in 47, nivolumab in 6, ipilimumab in 1, combination ipilimumab/nivolumab in 27, and other combination immunotherapies in 7 patients. Immunotherapy was discontinued in 54 patients—72.2% for progression, 16.7% for toxicity, and 11.1% for other reasons. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.1 months and median overall survival was 19.1 months. One patient with undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) achieved a CR, while 20 patients had a PR, including 7 UPS, 9 leiomyosarcoma (LMS), and 1 each with alveolar soft part sarcoma, fibroblastic sarcoma, sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma, and myxofibrosarcoma. Forty-five percent (9 of 20) of LMS patients achieved a PR. Twenty-eight patients had SD. Our results confirm the activity and safety of anti-PD-1 therapy in metastatic STS. A notable response rate was observed in UPS and LMS subtypes. This study expands the knowledge base beyond what is currently available from clinical trials involving checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic STS.