SARCOMA

A comparison of anatomic and functional imaging in the assessment of clinical outcomes in patients with Ewing sarcoma has shown that FDG-PET, assessed by PERCIST criteria, was superior in predicting clinical benefits and identifying responses, according to a study published in the&nbsp;<em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.<br /> &nbsp;

George D. Demetri, MD, senior vice president for Experimental Therapeutics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and co-director of the Ludwig Center at Harvard, discusses how sarcoma is leading the way in the breakdown of cancers into different types.

The PDGFR&alpha; antagonist olaratumab has been recommended approval by&nbsp;The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP)&nbsp;for use in combination with doxorubicin for patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS) who are not good candidates for radiotherapy or surgery.

Scientific breakthroughs can be difficult in a rare disease such as sarcoma, which makes up less than 1% of all adult cancers and comprises more than 50 subtypes.

Treatment with pembrolizumab led to a reduction of tumor size in 33% of patients with undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and dedifferentiated liposarcoma.

The FDA has placed a partial clinical hold on a planned pivotal trial examining NY-ESO SPEAR T-cell therapy in patients with myxoid round cell liposarcoma.

George D. Demetri, MD, senior vice president for Experimental Therapeutics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and co-director of the Ludwig Center at Harvard, discusses the relevance of sarcoma in the converging worlds of targeted therapies and immuno-oncology.

Research is making only modest progress in the discovery&nbsp;of receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors that show benefit&nbsp;in the treatment of sarcomas, Gary K. Schwartz, MD, argued during a presentation at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Among immunotherapies PD-1 inhibitors are gaining the most attention for<br /> the treatment of patients with sarcomas.

Current progress on targeted and immunotherapy agents for the treatment of sarcomas from the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting were discussed with Jonathan C. Trent, MD, PhD.

Brian A. Van Tine, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Section of Medical Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, discusses the importance of understanding molecular subtypes of sarcoma.

Advancements in sarcoma are both revolutionizing the treatment of this heterogeneous disease and influencing the research and treatment approach in other tumor types, according to George D. Demetri, MD.

The FDA has granted an biologics license application for olaratumab a priority review for use in combination with doxorubicin as a treatment of patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma who are not good candidates for radiotherapy or surgery.

In this review, Rodrigo R. Muhoz, MD, William D. Tap, MD, and Sandra P. D'Angelo, MD address the emerging therapeutic strategies aimed at specific molecular targets that could potentially change the approach to patients with soft-tissue sarcomas.

Soft Tissue Sarcoma with Jonathan C. Trent, MD, PhD and Shreyaskumar R. Patel, MD