An observational, multicenter, retrospective, Italian Sarcoma Group (ISG) study of trabectedin in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS).

2018

e23502Background: Trabectedin (T) is approved for patients (pts) with STS after failure of anthracyclines (A) and ifosfamide (I), or pts unsuited to receive AI. ISG performed a retrospective study ...

Systemic Treatment in Advanced Phyllodes Tumor of the Breast: A Multi-institutional European Retrospective Case-series Analyses

2022

Abstract Background: We aimed at investigating outcome of systemic treatments in advanced breast PT. Methods: All cases of advanced breast PT treated with systemic treatments from 1999 to 2019, in one of the referral sarcoma centres involved in the study, were retrospectively reviewed. Results: 56 female patients were identified. Median age was 52 (range 25-76) years. Patients re-ceived a median number of 2 systemic treatments (range 1-4). Best responses according to RECIST were: 1 (3.7%) CR, 11 (40.7%) PR, 6 (22.2%) SD, 9 (33.3%) PD with anthracyclines plus ifosfamide (AI); 2 (16.7%) PR, 4 (33.3%) SD, 6 (50.0%) PD with anthracycline alone; 3 (18.8%) PR, 4 (25.0%) SD, 9 (56.3%) PD with high…

Numerical, dimensional or mixed progression disease to imatinib as prognostic factor in patients with metastatic GIST.

2017

11040 Background: The majority of GIST patients with advanced disease initially achieves disease control from imatinib treatment. Approximately 10% of patients progresses within 6 months of starting therapy (primary resistance) and also 50-60% of the responding patients develops progression disease within two years (secondary resistance). Progression disease (PD) can be numerical, dimensional or mixed. The known prognostic factors of risk stratification in local disease are tumor size, mitotic activity and anatomic site. In this retrospective analysis we explore several clinical factors affecting survival in metastatic setting. Methods: The population included in this large database of 128…

Tumor response assessment by Choi criteria in localized high-risk soft tissue sarcoma (STS) treated with chemotherapy (CT): Update at 10-year follow-…

2016

11044Background: We already reported (Cancer 2012;118:5857) on better correlation of Choi criteria (Choi) than RECIST with the outcome of pts affected by high-risk STS entering a multicentric Itali...

Tumor response assessment by modified Choi criteria in localized high-risk soft tissue sarcoma treated with chemotherapy.

2012

BACKGROUND. The objective of this study was to compare the prognostic relevance of Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) versus Choi criteria for the assessment of response in patients with high-risk soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities or trunk wall who received preoperative chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy in a phase 3 trial. METHODS. Patients received 3 cycles of preoperative epirubicin þ ifosfamide with or without radiotherapy. The diagnostic concordance between RECIST and Choi criteria and their correlation with overall survival (OS) and freedom from progression (FFP) were evaluated in a univariate Cox regression model. RESULTS. In 243 of 321 eligible patient…

Imatinib rechallenge in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors following progression with imatinib, sunitinib and regorafenib

2018

Background: Rechallenge with imatinib is an option in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) patients following progression with standard tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs), imatinib, sunitinib and regorafenib. We retrospectively collected data from metastatic Italian GIST patients treated with imatinib resumption after progression to conventional TKIs. Methods: A total of 104 eligible advanced GIST patients, previously treated with imatinib, sunitinib and regorafenib, were collected from six referral Italian institutions. Mutational analysis was recorded and correlated with survival and response according to RECIST 1.1 or CHOI criteria. Results: Overall, 71 patients treated with ima…

Novel Lymphocyte-Independent Antitumor Activity by PD-1 Blocking Antibody against PD-1+ Chemoresistant Lung Cancer Cells

2022

Abstract Purpose: Antibodies against the lymphocyte PD-1 (aPD-1) receptor are cornerstone agents for advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on their ability to restore the exhausted antitumor immune response. Our study reports a novel, lymphocyte-independent, therapeutic activity of aPD-1 against NSCLC, blocking the tumor-intrinsic PD-1 receptors on chemoresistant cells. Experimental Design: PD-1 in NSCLC cells was explored in vitro at baseline, including stem-like pneumospheres, and following treatment with cisplatin both at transcriptional and protein levels. PD-1 signaling and RNA sequencing were assessed. The lymphocyte-independent antitumor activity of aPD-1 was explored in…

Predictive factors of response to Sunitinib in metastatic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (mGISTs): A retrospective analysis

2017

Soft tissue sarcoma in Italy: From epidemiological data to clinical networking to improve patient care and outcomes

2019

Sarcomas are rare malignant neoplasms that develop from mesenchymal cells and include a heterogeneous and large group of histological subtypes that may occur at any anatomical site. Soft tissue sarcomas (STS), the focus of this review, account for ≈70‒80% of sarcomas and represent <1% of all cancers. The heterogeneity of STS applies to both their topography and morphology, and 5-year survival can vary widely depending on disease stage and the complex interplay between anatomical site and histology for different STS subtypes. The rarity and heterogeneity of STS, together with other factors, such as the lack of clinical expertise often lead to difficulties and delays in making an accurate …

Advanced epithelioid haemangioendotelioma: Fever, pain, and pleural effusion predict a worse outcome.

2019

e22540 Background: Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is an exceedingly rare soft tissue sarcoma subtype. EHE often presents as a multifocal/ multivisceral disease and its clinical behavior is highly unpredictable from indolent to very aggressive forms. A common choice in advanced patients is a close, active surveillance (AS), considering a treatment only in case of disease progression. Our retrospective study aimed to identify clinical features associated with a more aggressive behavior. Methods: Patients affected by advanced EHE treated in 6 centers of the Italian Rare Cancer Network were retrospectively reviewed. Diagnosis was confirmed by a sarcoma expert pathologist and molecular …

Adjuvant Imatinib in Patients with GIST Harboring Exon 9 KIT Mutations : Results from a Multi-institutional European Retrospective Study

2022

[Purpose] The effect of high-dose imatinib (800 mg/day) on survival in the adjuvant treatment of patients with resected KIT exon 9–mutated gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) is not established. Here, the association of dose and other clinicopathologic variables with survival was evaluated in a large multi-institutional European cohort.

Rechallenge in advanced GIST progressing to imatinib, sunitinib and regorafenib: An Italian survey.

2017

11038 Background: We retrospectively collected data from metastatic Italian GIST patients treated with imatinib or sunitinib reintroduction after progression to conventional three or four lines of therapy. Methods: 82 eligible advanced GIST patients, previously treated with imatinib, sunitinib and regorafenib, were collected in the present analysis from 6 cancer centres. All patients received all three standard kinase inhibitors. Imatinib dose increase as active second line or 800 mg upfront in exon 9 mutant GIST were allowed. Specific mutations were recorded if available (deletion versus others) and correlated with survival and response according to RECIST 1.1 or CHOI criteria. Results: S…

Trabectedin for patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma: A non-interventional, retrospective, multicenter study of the italian sarcoma group

2021

The Italian Sarcoma Group performed this retrospective analysis of patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma, pretreated with ≥1 anthracycline-based treatment, and treated with trabectedin every three weeks. Primary endpoint was to describe real-life use of trabectedin across Italy. Secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR) and safety. Overall, 512 patients from 20 Italian centers were evaluated. Leiomyosarcoma (37.7%)/liposarcoma (30.3%) were the most prevalent histological types (abbreviated as L-sarcoma). Patients received a median of four trabectedin cycles (range: 1–40), mostly as a second-line treatment (~60% of patients). The ORR was 13.7% superior (p &lt

High-risk soft tissue sarcomas treated with perioperative chemotherapy: Improving prognostic classification in a randomised clinical trial

2018

Background: Patients with extremity and trunk wall soft tissue sarcoma (STS) with high malignancy grade and size >5 cm are at high-risk of death. This risk varies depending also on other patient and tumour features, including histologic subtype. This study investigated whether a prognostic nomogram can improve risk assessment of these patients. Methods: Data from high-risk STS patients enrolled in a randomised controlled trial investigating different perioperative chemotherapy regimens were analysed. Ten-year probability of overall survival (OS) and incidence of distant metastasis (DM) were computed using the prognostic nomogram Sarculator (pr-OS and inc-DM, respectively). Tumour response a…

Short, full-dose neoadjuvant chemotherapy in localized high-risk adult soft tissue sarcomas (STS): An exploratory subgroup analysis on responding pat…

2018

11558Background: We already reported (Cancer 2012;118:5857) the correlation of Choi criteria (Choi) and RECIST with outcome of pts affected by high-risk STS entering a multicentric Italian/Spanish ...

Personalization of regorafenib treatment in metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumours in real-life clinical practice

2017

Background: Regorafenib (REG) has now been approved as the standard third-line therapy in metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) patients at the recommended dose and schedule of 160 mg once daily for the first 3 weeks of each 4-week cycle. However, it has a relevant toxicity profile that mainly occurs within the first cycles of therapy, and dose and schedule adjustments are often required to reduce the frequency or severity of adverse events and to avoid early treatment discontinuation. To date, large amounts of data on the use of REG in metastatic GIST patients in daily clinical practice are not available, and we lack information about how this treatment personalization really a…

Olaratumab: PDGFR-α inhibition as a novel tool in the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcomas

2017

Advanced soft tissue sarcomas are aggressive cancers with limited therapeutic options. Recently, inhibition of platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR)-α by the monoclonal antibody olaratumab showed promising clinical activity. If confirmed, this would be one of the first examples of targeted therapy effective in advanced soft tissue sarcomas therapy independently of the histologic subtype. Here, we reviewed the biology of the PDGF/PDGFR axis, particularly focusing on its role in cancer, and then we discussed on the effects of PDGFR-α inhibition in the therapy of advanced soft tissue sarcomas.

Predictive Factors of Response to Sunitinib in Imatinib-Resistant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs): A Multi-Institutional Study

2019

Imatinib 400 mg is the standard of care for medical treatment of advanced GISTs. In the majority of cases, however, GISTs eventually develop resistance to imatinib. The optimal second line treatment has not been established yet and imatinib dose escalation (800 mg) or sunitinib represent two feasible options. The objective of this retrospective, multi-institutional, study is to analyze the validity of several parameters as possible predictive factors of response to sunitinib after imatinib failure. We reviewed 128 metastatic GISTs treated with sunitinib between January 2007 to June 2017. Primary tumour site, metastatic site, c-KIT/PDGFR-α mutational status, PET-FDG status and type…

Short, full-dose adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) in high-risk adult soft tissue sarcomas (STS): long-term follow-up of a randomized clinical trial from th…

2016

[Background] To report on long-term results of a phase 3 trial comparing three versus five cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) with full-dose epirubicin+ifosfamide in high-risk soft tissue sarcomas (STS).

Italian survey of second tumors in patients with diagnosis of GIST (gastrointestinal stromal tumor).

2019

11032 Background: GISTs are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the digestive tract. As of recent, new links are being made between GISTS and secondary malignancies. However, whether the coexistence of GISTs with other tumors is stochastic, or the result of related pathogenetic mechanisms is still unknown. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinical and molecular features from all GIST patients with second tumors treated in seven Italian GIST reference centers. Qualitative variables were compared using the Fisher exact test. Results: Clinical data of 184 patients with diagnosis of GIST were evaluated. Median age at diagnosis was 66 years, KIT exon 11 resulted the most frequent mutation…

The sarculator stratified prognosis of patients with high-risk soft tissue sarcomas (STS) of extremities and trunk wall treated with perioperative ch…

2017

11016 Background: Patients with extremity and trunk wall STS with high malignancy grade and size larger than 5cm are considered at high risk of death, but in fact this risk varies broadly depending on histologic subtype and size. The Sarculator, a nomogram for STS, can improve prognostic assessment of these patients. This tool was evaluated for stratifying risk of distant metastasis (DM) and overall survival (OS) in a RCT investigating perioperative chemotherapy. Methods: High-risk STS patients were randomly assigned to receive either three cycles of preoperative chemotherapy with epirubicin (120 mg/m2) and ifosfamide (9 g/m2) or the same three preoperative cycles followed by two further p…

Weekly cisplatin with or without imatinib in advanced chordoma: A retrospective case-series analysis from the Italian Rare Cancers Network

2021

Background: To report on a retrospective case-series analysis of weekly cisplatin (wCDDP) as a single agent or combined with imatinib (wCDDP/I) in patients with advanced chordoma treated within the Italian Rare Cancer Network. Methods: Adult patients with a diagnosis of advanced, brachyury-positive chordoma, treated from April 2007 to October 2020 with wCDDP or wCDDP/I were retrospectively identified. Imatinib was withheld at the same time as wCDDP. Response according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed. Results: Thirty-three consecutive patients were identified (wCDDP as front-line n = 8 [24.2%]; wCDDP as…

Selinexor in Advanced, Metastatic Dedifferentiated Liposarcoma: A Multinational, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

2022

PURPOSE Antitumor activity in preclinical models and a phase I study of patients with dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DD-LPS) was observed with selinexor. We evaluated the clinical benefit of selinexor in patients with previously treated DD-LPS whose sarcoma progressed on approved agents. METHODS SEAL was a phase II-III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients age 12 years or older with advanced DD-LPS who had received two-five lines of therapy were randomly assigned (2:1) to selinexor (60 mg) or placebo twice weekly in 6-week cycles (crossover permitted). The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Patients who received at least one dose of st…

Preclinical and clinical evidence of activity of pazopanib in solitary fibrous tumour

2014

Abstract Background To explore the activity of pazopanib in solitary fibrous tumour (SFT). Patients and methods In a preclinical study, we compared the activity of pazopanib, sorafenib, sunitinib, regorafenib, axitinib and bevacizumab in a dedifferentiated-SFT (DSFT) xenotransplanted into Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Antiangiogenics were administered at their reported optimal doses when mean tumour volume (TV) was 80 mm3. Drug activity was assessed as TV inhibition percentage (TVI%). From May 2012, six consecutive patients with advanced SFT received pazopanib, on a national name-based programme. In one case sunitinib was administered after pazopanib failure. Results In the …

Assessment of morphological CT imaging features for the prediction of risk stratification, mutations, and prognosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors

2021

To investigate the correlation between CT imaging features and risk stratification of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), prediction of mutation status, and prognosis. This retrospective dual-institution study included patients with pathologically proven GISTs meeting the following criteria: (i) preoperative contrast-enhanced CT performed between 2008 and 2019; (ii) no treatments before imaging; (iii) available pathological analysis. Tumor risk stratification was determined according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2008 criteria. Two readers evaluated the CT features, including enhancement patterns and tumor characteristics in a blinded fashion. The differences in distributi…

Clinical prognostic factors in advanced epithelioid haemangioendothelioma: a retrospective case series analysis within the Italian Rare Cancers Netwo…

2021

Background This multicentric, retrospective study conducted within the Italian Rare Cancer Network describes clinical features and explores their possible prognostic relevance in patients with advanced epithelioid haemangioendothelioma (EHE) started on surveillance. Patients and methods We collected data on adult patients with molecularly confirmed, advanced EHE consecutively referred at five sarcoma reference centres between January 2010 and June 2018, with no evidence of progressive disease (PD) and started on surveillance. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) univariable and multivariable Cox analyses were performed. In the latter, due to the low number of cases and …

Update of NGS analysis of Italian survey of second tumors in patients with diagnosis of GIST (gastrointestinal stromal tumor).

2020

e23518 Background: In patients with GIST, literature reports a risk of second primary tumors between 4.5% and 33% with different distribution in the worldwide. The network of 7 italian EURACAN centers has collected clinical and molecular features of GIST patients with second primary tumors. Methods: We reviewed the clinical characteristics of 201 patients with GIST and second primary tumors in order to evaluate association between risk of dead and each possible factor, using Kaplan meier curve, log-rank test and Cox model for Hazard Ratio and it’s interval Confidence 95% estimation. Furthermore, NGS analysis ( 56 gene onco panel) in 72 patients with GIST was performed. Results: On the basi…

Standard versus personalized schedule of regorafenib in metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors: a retrospective, multicenter, real-world study

2021

Background Despite its proven activity as third-line treatment in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), regorafenib can present a poor tolerability profile which often leads to treatment modifications and transient or permanent discontinuation; thus, in clinical practice physicians usually adopt various dosing and interval schedules to counteract regorafenib-related adverse events and avoid treatment interruption. The aim of this real-world study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of personalized schedules of regorafenib in patients with metastatic GIST, in comparison with the standard schedule (160 mg daily, 3-weeks-on, 1-week-off). Patients and methods Institutional registries a…

Pazopanib for treatment of typical solitary fibrous tumours: a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 trial

2020

[Background] Solitary fibrous tumour is an ultra-rare sarcoma, which encompasses different clinicopathological subgroups. The dedifferentiated subgroup shows an aggressive course with resistance to pazopanib, whereas in the malignant subgroup, pazopanib shows higher activity than in previous studies with chemotherapy. We designed a trial to test pazopanib activity in two different cohorts of solitary fibrous tumour: the malignant-dedifferentiated cohort, which was previously published, and the typical cohort, which is presented here.

Role of adjuvant imatinib dose in radically resected GIST harboring KIT exon 9 mutations

2020

11533 Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) with a driver mutation in KIT exon 9 (Ex9) represent about 10% of all newly diagnosed cases. In the metastatic setting, Ex9-mutated GIST patients benefit from higher doses of imatinib (800 mg/day vs standard 400 mg/day). The additional therapeutic benefit from a higher dose of imatinib in the adjuvant setting in this molecular subgroup has not been confirmed. Methods: We retrospectively identified 105 patients (pts) with resected Ex9-mutated GIST treated with adjuvant imatinib (800 mg/day or 400 mg/day) in 15 different European centers. Disease-Free Survival (DFS) and Imatinib Failure-Free Survival (IFFS) were calculated and analyzed…