Adjuvant chemotherapy for soft tissue sarcoma.
OBJECTIVE
To review current state-of-the-art knowledge about adjuvant medical therapy in adult soft tissue sarcomas.


RESULTS
Most recent contributions have added nonrandomized evidence to previously available controlled clinical trials, which were undertaken from the 1970s. Again, results are conflicting, with a limited benefit suggested by some retrospective analyses and denied by others. While a delay in relapse is likely to occur in a fraction of patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, a permanent benefit has been more difficult to prove. This result is consistent with findings from previous clinical trials, which pointed to a slight benefit from Doxorubicin-based adjuvant chemotherapy and a possibly higher, although less evidence-based, benefit from anthracycline plus Ifosfamide regimens.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, adjuvant chemotherapy may give some benefit in soft tissue sarcoma. If any, it is likely to be of limited degree, confined to the highest-risk patients, and requiring a fully active chemotherapy regimen. This was mainly shown for extremity soft tissue sarcoma but may also apply to other primary sites. The value of molecular-targeted therapy as an adjuvant for high-risk gastrointestinal stromal tumor patients is a different subject awaiting long-term results of ongoing trials.
Casali
Paolo G
PG
Adult Sarcoma Medical Oncology Unit, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milano, Italy. paolo.casali@istitutotumori.mi.it
Picci
Piero
P
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents