title: Phase II trial of paclitaxel-epirubicin in patients with recurrent soft-tissue sarcoma.
abstract: Twenty-seven patients with recurrent soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) entered a multicenter study to determine the efficacy of the combination paclitaxel 200 mg/m and epirubicin 75 mg/m administered every 21 days. Patient characteristics included the following: 14 women and 13 men, median age of 52 years, 12 patients had local recurrence and 20 had metastasis. Eighteen patients had previously received chemotherapy for recurrent disease. The main grade III to IV hematologic toxicities were neutropenia (70%), anemia (3.7%), and thrombocytopenia (7.4%). Febrile neutropenia occurred in 5 patients (18.5%). Severe nonhematologic toxicities were rare. Two patients had a partial response (7.4%; 95% CI: 2.6-12.2%), with a median response duration of 3 and 5 months. Six patients had stable disease (22.2%), and 19 had progressive disease (70.5%). The median overall survival from study inclusion was 8 months. This study suggests the association paclitaxel-epirubicin does not increase the known activity of anthracycline in recurrent STS.
authors.affiliation: CHU J. Minjoz, Besancon, France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pivot
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chevreau
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cupissol
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lortholary
authors.forename: Nguyen-Binh
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Eymard
authors.forename: Jacques-Olivier
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Bay
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Baranzelli
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mita
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barnouin
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Savary
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thyss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015251:Epirubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D015251:Epirubicin; D017239:Paclitaxel