title: Efficacy and safety of endostar® combined with chemotherapy in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcomas.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of tumors, and approximately 40-50% of patients with STS develop metastatic disease. The median overall survival of those patients was 12 months and their 5-year survival rate was 8%. Therefore, study on more effective treatment, especially the targeting therapies, is urgently needed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Endostar® combined with chemotherapy in patients with advanced STS.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective case-series study was conducted in Cancer Institute of PLA, Xinqiao Hospital. A total of 71 patients suffering from advanced STS (IIB - IV) were included, of whom 49 cases treated with chemotherapy alone were defined as the control group and the rest 22 cases treated with the traditional chemotherapy combined with Endostar® were defined as the test group. The short-term therapeutic effects including objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and safety were evaluated in the two groups. In the follow-up, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were also observed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the test and control groups, the ORR was 18.2% and 12.2%, respectively (P = 0.767), and the DCR was 86.4% and 61.2%, respectively (P=0.034). The median time to progression in the test and control groups was 120 days and 70 days with significant difference (P = 0.017), while the median overall survival was 452 days and 286 days without significant difference (P = 0.503). The one-year survival rate in the test group and control group was 56.2% and 35.4%, respectively, while the two-year survival rate was 30.2% and 26.5%, respectively. No significant difference in the side effects was found between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endostar® combined with chemotherapy resulted in a higher DCR and longer PFS in the patients with advanced STS, and the toxicity was tolerable.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Institute of PLA, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Lu-Ping
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xing-Yun
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Yan-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Lv-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Gui-Fang
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Xin-Xin
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu-Zhong
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Jian-Guo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D043169:Endostatins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D043169:Endostatins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C522911:endostar protein