title: Gemcitabine in combination with paclitaxel for advanced soft-tissue sarcomas.
abstract: A limited number of chemotherapeutic agents have been found to be active against advanced soft-tissue sarcomas (STSs), particularly sarcomas that have progressed following doxorubicin treatment. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the response to treatment with gemcitabine plus paclitaxel in patients with STSs. Data were collected on all patients with advanced non-resectable STS who were treated with a fixed dose 700 mg/m2gemcitabine in combination with 70 mg/m2paclitaxel on days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks. A total of 30 patients were included, with a median age of 56.4 years (range, 40-70 years). The gemcitabine/paclitaxel combination was well tolerated, with an overall response in 27% and a clinical benefit in 57% of the patients. The median progression-free survival was 6.1 months and the overall survival was 14.3 months. In conclusion, gemcitabine plus paclitaxel was found to be tolerable and effective in patients with advanced STSs.
authors.affiliation: Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sonnenblick
authors.affiliation: Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Feras
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eleyan
authors.affiliation: Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peretz
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Inna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ospovat
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Merimsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sella
authors.affiliation: Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Nili
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Peylan-Ramu
authors.affiliation: Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Katz
keywords: gemcitabine; paclitaxel; soft-tissue sarcomas; stage 4