Characteristics and Treatment Patterns of Patients with Advanced Soft Tissue Sarcoma in Korea / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: A soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is a rare type of cancer, accounting for 1% of adult solid cancers. The aim of the present study is to determine the incidence of localized and advanced STS in Korean patients, their treatment patterns, and the survival of patients by disease status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The STS patient cohort was defined using National Health Insurance Service medical data from 2002 to 2015. Incidence, distribution, anatomical location of tumors, survival rates (Kaplan-Meyer survival function) and treatment patterns were analyzed by applying different algorithms to the STS cohort containing localized and advanced STS cases. RESULTS: A total of 7,813 patients were diagnosed with STS from 2007 to 2014, 4,307 were localized STS and 3,506 advanced STS cases. The total incidence of STS was 2.49 per 100,000 person- years: 1.37 per 100,000 person-years for localized STS and 1.12 per 100,000 person-years for advanced STS. The 5-year survival rate after diagnosis was 56.4% for all STS, 82.4% for localized, and 27.2% for advanced STS. Half of the advanced STS patients (49.98%) received anthracycline-containing chemotherapy as initial treatment after diagnosis. CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into localized and advanced STS epidemiology, treatment patterns and outcomes in Korea, which could be used as fundamental data in improving clinical outcomes of STS patients in the future.

Anlotinib hydrochloride capsules for advanced soft tissue sarcoma: single-center data analysis of a stageⅡmulticenter clinical trial / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib hydrochloride capsules for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma based on the data from Department of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor, Peking University Cancer Hospital&Institute. Methods: Patients were randomized allocated at 2:1 ratio for the anlotinib treatment and placebo group. The treatment group received 12 mg/day of anlotinib for 14 consecutive days in a 21-day cycle. The primary end-point was progression-free survival (PFS), and the secondary end-points were disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), and adverse event rate. Results: A total of 46 patients were enrolled in this study; 7 of them were excluded from per protocol set (PPS). Among the remaining 39 patients, 28 were included in the anlotinib group and 11 in the placebo group. In the anlotinib group, 4 patients had partial remission and 13 had stable disease (SD), whereas in the placebo group, 3 patients had SD. The difference in DCR between the 2 groups was statistically significant (60.7% vs . 27.3%, P=0.082). The DCR of the advanced soft tissue sarcoma in the anlotinib group was 78.6% (11/14). The median PFS in the anlotinib group was 12.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.6 to 17.2) months, which was significantly longer than 4 months in the placebo group (95% CI: 1.7 to 6.3 months, P=0.043); however, the difference in OS between the 2 groups was not significant (19.4 vs . 17.6 months, P=0.961). Regarding the safety, 2 patients had severe adverse events (7.14%) possibly related with treatment in the anlotinib group; one of them had pneumothorax. The other adverse events were grade 1 to 2. Conclusions: Soft tissue sarcoma is highly responsive to anlotinib, with prolonged PFS. Anlotinib is well tolerated and can be used as a treatment option for advanced soft tissue sarcoma.