Trabectedin for advanced soft tissue sarcomas: a single institution experience

ABSTRACT Background: We retrospectively analyzed data from patients who had been treated with trabectedin at our institution between April 2009 and August 2011. Patients & Methods: Data from 25 patients with recurrent soft tissue sarcoma (leiomyosarcoma: n = 8; liposarcoma: n = 5) were used to assess the efficacy and safety of trabectedin 1.5 mg/m2 given every 3 weeks. Results: Most patients (n = 14) had been heavily pretreated with ≥2 previous chemotherapy lines. Eight (32%) patients achieved a partial response according to dimensional and tumor density changes, and seven (28%) patients had stable disease for ≥3 months (clinical benefit rate = 60%; n = 15). Median progression-free survival was 6.4 months and overall survival 19.3 months. Common adverse events were fatigue, nausea, anemia and transient transaminase increases. Conclusion: Treatment with trabectedin is effective and well tolerated in heavily pretreated soft tissue sarcoma patients. Tapering dexamethasone courses and switching trabectedin administration to an every 4 weeks schedule effectively dealt with persistent fatigue without compromising effectiveness