title: Weekly gemcitabine and docetaxel in refractory soft tissue sarcoma: a retrospective analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel (GD) is used to effectively treat patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS). It is widely considered that the conventional doses used are too high for long term use and many patients must discontinue GD treatment due to its toxicity. Therefore, to determine the appropriate dose meeting acceptable efficacy results, while minimizing toxic side effects, we treated patients with a weekly infusion of GD (weekly GD).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 22 patients presenting a variety of STSs were treated at Yonsei Cancer Center. All patients had metastatic or recurrent cancer and had previously received doxorubicin and ifosfamide combination chemotherapy. In all cases, gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m(2)) and docetaxel (35 mg/m(2)) were administered intravenously on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of these patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 4.5%, with one patient diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma having a partial response, and the disease control rate was 40.9%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) duration was 2.7 months and the PFS was correlated with the treatment response to a weekly GD. The median overall survival (OS) duration was 7.8 months and the OS was correlated with histology. There was no significant difference in OS between patients who received weekly GD as a 2nd line chemotherapy and those who received 3rd line or more. Treatment was generally well tolerated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Weekly GD was well tolerated and showed moderate efficacy, indicating that this could be a reasonable option as a salvage treatment for metastatic STS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ha-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Hyo Song
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Soo Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Jung Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Seung Taek
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Jae Kyung
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Roh
authors.forename: Sun Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Rha