title: Phase IV trial of daily oral etoposide in the treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma.
abstract: Intravenous-bolus etoposide has modest activity in sarcomas when given daily for 3-5 days. Low frequent doses theoretically inhibit topoisomerase II activity over a longer duration and have been reported to have increased activity in small-cell lung cancer. A phase I trial of oral etoposide resulted in partial responses in two patients with soft-tissue sarcomas. To estimate more accurately the response rate for daily oral etoposide in sarcomas, we treated 25 patients with 50 mg/m2 per day by mouth for 21 days every 4 weeks. Treatment-related toxicity included > or = grade 2 neutropenia in 6 of the 25 patients and thrombocytopenia in 3. One brief partial response was observed (4%; 95% confidence interval for true response rate, 0-11%). Disease stabilized in five patients for periods ranging from 3 to 18 months. At this dose and on this schedule, daily oral etoposide appears to have little activity against soft-tissue sarcomas.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Licht
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mazanet
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Loehrer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gonin
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Antman
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary
chemical_list: D005047:Etoposide