Citations

LBA2 Background: Dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLS) remains a difficult disease to treat with limited systemic therapy options. Approved drugs offer modest benefit such as trabectedin (median progression-free survival [mPFS] 2.2 months [m]) or eribulin (mPFS 2.0m). The Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) oncogene is ubiquitously amplified in DDLS and is a rational therapeutic target. In single-arm phase 2 studies, treatment with selective CDK4 inhibitors resulted in mPFS 4.2m with palbociclib and mPFS 7.7m with abemaciclib. We hypothesized that treatment with abemaciclib would improve PFS compared to placebo in patients with recurrent or metastatic DDLS. Methods: SARC041 was a phase 3 randomized double-blind study of abemaciclib versus placebo. The study was open at 9 academic medical centers in the USA. Eligible patients (pts) had recurrent or metastatic DDLS (purely well-differentiated liposarcoma excluded), progression of disease by RECIST 1.1 in the 6 months prior to study entry, any number of prior systemic therapies, and adequate organ function and performance status. Pts were stratified by prior lines of therapy (0 vs 1 or more) and randomized 1:1 between abemaciclib 200 mg PO twice a day or matching placebo. Scans were every 6 weeks (every 12 weeks after week 36) and pts with progression of disease on placebo could cross over to open label abemaciclib. The primary endpoint was PFS. The design provided 80% power with two-sided 10% significance level to detect a hazard ratio of 0.6 by log-rank test. Secondary endpoints were overall response rate (ORR), PFS and response rate after crossover, and overall survival (OS). Data cutoff was March 1, 2026. Results: In total, 108 pts were randomized to receive abemaciclib (n = 54) or placebo (n = 54). Demographic/baseline characteristics were generally similar across treatment arms. Abemaciclib demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in PFS at 9.67m vs placebo at 1.52m (hazard ratio [HR] 0.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25–0.59; p < 0.001). ORR was 9.3% for abemaciclib vs 0% for placebo (p = 0.057). mOS was not reached with abemaciclib vs 25.45m with placebo (HR 0.55; 95% CI, 0.28–1.07; p = 0.077). mPFS after crossover from placebo to abemaciclib was 3.44m (95% CI 2.66, 6.84). ORR after crossover was 4.3% (95% CI 0.53%, 15%). mOS after crossover was 24.03m (95% CI: 11.7, NA). Grade 3 or higher adverse event rates were similar in both arms (p > 0.99). No new safety signals were observed. Conclusions: Abemaciclib demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in PFS vs placebo in pts with dedifferentiated liposarcoma, with an encouraging OS trend. These results support abemaciclib as a new treatment option for dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Clinical trial information: NCT04967521 .

The treatment landscape for soft tissue sarcomas (STS) is evolving constantly. These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on recent updates to the NCCN Guidelines for STS specific to surgical management and systemic therapy recommendations for various subtypes.

11504 Background: Surgery & radiation therapy (RT) yield high local control rates for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of the extremity and limb girdle. However, patients (pts) with high-grade stage III STS are at significant risk for developing metastasis. Median survival for pts with metastatic STS is < 2 years. SARC028 (NCT02301039) evaluated the efficacy of pembrolizumab (pembro) for metastatic STS, showing 20% and 8.7% response rates in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) and pleomorphic/dedifferentiated liposarcoma (LPS), respectively. We hypothesized that neoadjuvant pembro with concurrent RT followed by surgery and adjuvant pembro for stage III UPS, including myxofibrosarcoma, or LPS would stimulate an anti-tumor immune response to eliminate micrometastatic disease & improve disease-free survival (DFS). SU2C-SARC032 (NCT03092323) is a multi-institutional, international, randomized phase 2 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of adding pembro to standard of care (SOC) RT & surgery for pts with stage III UPS or LPS. Methods: Pts aged > 12 yo with stage III (FNCLCC grade 2 or 3) UPS or LPS of the extremity and limb girdle were enrolled. Pts were randomized (1:1, stratified by grade) to neoadjuvant RT (50 Gy/25 fx) then surgery (SOC arm) or neoadjuvant pembro and RT then surgery & adjuvant pembro (EXP arm). Pembro was given 200 mg IV Q3 wk for 3 doses (before, during & after RT) & up to 14 adjuvant cycles. The primary endpoint was 2-yr DFS. Secondary endpoints included local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), distant disease-free survival (DDFS), & overall survival (OS). Target enrollment of 126 evaluable patients (max 144 total) provided 80% power (1-sided α = 0.05) to distinguish between a null hypothesis of 50% 2-yr DFS rate & alternative hypothesis of 75% 2-yr DFS rate by log-rank test, with initial analysis at 45 DFS events. Cox models were stratified by grade; primary analysis was a one-sided stratified log-rank test. Results: Between July 2017-November 2023, 143 patients were enrolled, predominantly with UPS (85%) & grade 3 (64%) histology. Median follow-up for alive patients is 24.1 mo. DFS in the EXP arm is significantly higher than the SOC arm (p = 0.023; HR 0.57, 90% CI: 0.35, 0.91). Estimated 2-yr DFS is 53% (90% CI: 43, 66%) for SOC vs 70% (90% CI: 61, 81%) for EXP arm. Currently, there is no statistically significant difference in LRFS (HR 0.55, 95% CI: 0.21, 1.42), DDFS (HR 0.57, 95% CI: 0.32, 1.01), or OS (HR 0.39, 95% CI: 0.14, 1.12). Pts with grade 3 sarcomas had improved DFS with pembro (HR 0.47, 95% CI: 0.25, 0.89), but no difference in DFS was observed in grade 2 tumors (HR 1.21, 95% CI: 0.35, 4.18). The proportion of patients with grade 3+ adverse events was significantly higher in EXP (52%) vs SOC arm (26%) (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Theaddition of neoadjuvant & adjuvant pembro to RT and surgery significantly improves DFS for pts with stage III UPS and LPS of the extremity and limb girdle. Clinical trial information: NCT03092323 .

Abstract Purpose: Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a rare vascular cancer with pathogenic TAZ–CAMTA1 (calmodulinbinding transcription activator 1) operating as an oncogenic driver through activation of the MAPK pathway. Trametinib is an inhibitor of MEK, a critical kinase in the MAPK pathway. We sought to evaluate the effect of trametinib in patients with EHE. Patients and Methods: A phase 2 trial of trametinib was conducted in patients with locally advanced or metastatic EHE. Eligibility requirements included evidence of tumor progression or presence of EHE-related pain requiring opiates for management before enrollment. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) as per RECIST1.1 in cases with TAZ– CAMTA1 confirmed by fusion-FISH. Secondary objectives were to estimate ORR for all patients, median progression-free survival (PFS), 2-year overall survival (OS) rate, patient safety, and change in patient-reported global health and pain scores per PROMIS questionnaires. Results: 44 patients enrolled and 42 started trametinib. TAZ– CAMTA1 was detected in 27 tumor samples. TheORRwas 3.7%[95% confidence interval (CI), 0.094–19.0], median PFS was 10.4 months (95%CI, 7.1–NA), and 2-year OS rate was 33.3%(95%CI, 19.1–58.2) in the target population. Median pain intensity and interference scores improved significantly after 4 weeks of trametinib in patients using opiates. Common adverse events related to trametinib were rash, fatigue, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea/constipation, alopecia, and edema; one grade 5 ARDS/pneumonitis was related to trametinib. Conclusions: Trametinib was associated with reduction in EHE-related pain and median PFS of more than 6 months, providing palliative benefit in patients with advanced EHE, but the trial did not meet the ORR goal. See related commentary by Van Tine and Haarberg, p. 4552

Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned co-primary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical Trial Updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported. ARST1321 was a phase II study designed to compare the near complete pathologic response rate after preoperative chemoradiation with/without pazopanib in children and adults with intermediate-/high-risk chemotherapy-sensitive body wall/extremity non-Rhabdomyosarcoma Soft Tissue Sarcoma (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02180867 ). Enrollment was stopped early following a predetermined interim analysis that found the rate of near complete pathologic response to be significantly greater with the addition of pazopanib. As a planned secondary aim of the study, the outcome data for this cohort were analyzed. Eight-five eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive (regimen A) or not receive (regimen B) pazopanib in combination with ifosfamide and doxorubicin + preoperative radiotherapy followed by primary resection at week 13 and then further chemotherapy at week 25. As of December 31, 2021, at a median survivor follow-up of 3.3 years (range, 0.1-5.8 years), the 3-year event-free survival for all patients in the intent-to-treat analysis was 52.5% (95% CI, 34.8 to 70.2) for regimen A and 50.6% (95% CI, 32 to 69.2) for regimen B ( P = .8677, log-rank test); the 3-year overall survival was 75.7% (95% CI, 59.7 to 91.7) for regimen A and 65.4% (95% CI, 48.1 to 82.7) for regimen B ( P = .1919, log-rank test). Although the rate of near complete pathologic response was significantly greater with the addition of pazopanib, outcomes were not statistically significantly different between the two regimens.

TPS11587 Background: Recurrent or metastatic dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLS) remains a difficult disease to treat. Available agents such as doxorubicin, eribulin, trabectedin, ifosfamide, dacarbazine, or gemcitabine-based regimens are associated with low response rates and only modest improvements in progression free or overall survival. The oncogene CDK4 is ubiquitously amplified in this disease and represents a rational therapeutic target. In single-arm phase 2 studies, treatment with selective CDK4 inhibitors resulted in clinical benefit (12-week progression-free survival (PFS) of 57% with palbociclib and 74% with abemaciclib). We hypothesize that treatment with abemaciclib will improve PFS compared to placebo in patients with recurrent or metastatic DDLS. Methods: This is a phase 3 randomized double-blind study of abemaciclib versus placebo. Eligible patients have recurrent or metastatic dedifferentiated liposarcoma (purely well-differentiated liposarcoma excluded), progression of disease by RECIST 1.1 in the 6 months prior to study entry, any number of prior systemic therapies, and adequate organ function and performance status. Patients are stratified by number of prior lines of therapy (0 vs 1 or more) and randomized 1:1 between abemaciclib 200 mg PO twice a day and matching placebo. Patients are followed with scans every 6 weeks (every 12w after 36w) and those with progression of disease on placebo may cross over to open label abemaciclib. The primary endpoint is PFS. Target enrollment is 108 evaluable patients which provides 80% power with two-sided 10% significance level to detect a hazard ratio of 0.6. Secondary endpoints include response rate, PFS and response rate after crossover, and overall survival. Archival tissue will be collected to explore potential biomarkers. As of Feb 1, 2023, 43 patients have been accrued at 9 participating centers. Clinical trial information: NCT04967521 .

11507 Background: Single agent or combination chemotherapy, typically Dox- or gemcitabine-based, are standard 1st- and 2nd-line therapies in patients (pts) with metastatic LMS; however, objective response rates (ORR), progression-free, and overall survival (PFS/OS) remain inadequate. Lurbi (PharmaMar S.A. / Jazz Pharmaceuticals) binds to DNA inhibiting transcription and inducing double strand breaks leading to apoptosis and delaying S/G2 progression. In a prior pilot study, we showed Lurbi+Dox is well-tolerated, with signs of activity, particularly in LMS. We designed this phase 1b to optimize dosing to lead into a randomized (1:1) phase 2 trial of Dox+/-Lurbi in anthracycline-naïve LMS. Herein we provide updated efficacy and tolerability data for this Phase 1b cohort. Methods: Pts > 18 yrs with locally advanced/metastatic, unresectable non-GIST STS (Phase 1b only) w/o prior anthracycline or Lurbi/trabectedin, ECOG PS < 3, RECIST 1.1 measurable, and normal organ function were eligible. The phase 1b followed a 3+3 design. Dosing included fixed Lurbi (3.2 mg/m2 d1) with two Dox dose levels (DL; DL1: 25 mg/m2 d1; DL2 25 mg/m2 d1+8). All pts received GCSF prophylaxis. Tumor assessments were every 2 cycles. DL1 was chosen as RP2D and the phase 2 trial began accrual in Aug 2022 aiming to enroll 50 LMS pts randomized 1:1 (stratified by uterine LMS [uLMS]] v. other LMS) with PFS as primary endpoint. Pts progressing on Dox are allowed to cross to Lurbi monotherapy. Results: 10 patients were enrolled in Phase 1b. Histologies included 5 LMS (4 uLMS) and 1 each of myxofibrosarcoma (myxFS), undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS), dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS), endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS), and solitary fibrous tumor (SFT). With a median follow-up of 344 days, 5/10 pts remain on treatment with median PFS of 357 days (95%CI 175-ND). 6 pts demonstrated partial response (PR; 5 confirmed), 3 with stable disease (SD), and 1 with progressive disease (PD, Table). Median time to PR was 81 days (range 46-207). Duration of response was over 132 days in all responders with 3 still on treatment. Treatment-related AEs were typical for Dox/Lurbi, including nausea, fatigue, and reversible LFT elevations/cytopenias. Updated safety and response data will be provided at the time of the meeting. Conclusions: Lurbi+Dox is well-tolerated with efficacy in STS including 6/10 pts achieving PR, 9/10 pts staying on treatment for >120d, and 6/10 pts >200d. The randomized phase 2 study is currently enrolling. Clinical trial information: NCT05099666 . [Table: see text]

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesThe impact upon wound healing of targeted molecular therapies, when incorporated into neoadjuvant therapy of soft tissue sarcoma, is largely unknown. Here, we describe wound complications following addition of pazopanib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), to neoadjuvant radiotherapy (RT) +/− chemotherapy for soft tissue sarcoma.MethodsWound complications were evaluated on dose‐finding and randomized arms of ARST1321, a phase II/III study incorporating neoadjuvant RT, +/− pazopanib, +/− ifosfamide/doxorubicin (ID) for sarcoma therapy.ResultsOf 85 evaluable patients, 35 (41%) experienced postoperative wound complications. Most (57%) were grade III. Randomization to pazopanib + RT + ID carried a 50% wound complication rate (17/34, with 47% grade III), compared to 22% (5/23) with ID + RT alone. In nonchemotherapy study arms, pazopanib + RT resulted in a 59% wound complication rate versus 25% for those receiving RT alone. Grade III wound complications occurred among 26% (15/58) of all patients receiving pazopanib. Wound complications occurred a median of 35 days postoperatively. Some occurred following diagnostic biopsies and at remote surgical sites.ConclusionThe addition of pazopanib to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and RT resulted in a higher wound complication rate following therapy of soft tissue sarcoma. The rate of grade III complications remained comparable to that reported in contemporary literature.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are the most common type of soft tissue sarcoma that occur throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Most of these tumors are caused by oncogenic activating mutations in the KIT or PDGFRA genes. The NCCN Guidelines for GIST provide recommendations for the diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, and follow-up of patients with these tumors. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the panel discussion behind recent important updates to the guidelines, including revised systemic therapy options for unresectable, progressive, or metastatic GIST based on mutational status, and updated recommendations for the management of GIST that develop resistance to specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare malignancies of mesenchymal cell origin that display a heterogenous mix of clinical and pathologic characteristics. STS can develop from fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, and other connective tissues. The evaluation and treatment of patients with STS requires a multidisciplinary team with demonstrated expertise in the management of these tumors. The complete NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Soft Tissue Sarcoma provide recommendations for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of extremity/superficial trunk/head and neck STS, as well as retroperitoneal/intra-abdominal STS, desmoid tumors, and rhabdomyosarcoma. This portion of the NCCN Guidelines discusses general principles for the diagnosis and treatment of retroperitoneal/intra-abdominal STS, outlines treatment recommendations, and reviews the evidence to support the guidelines recommendations.