Vol 14, No 6 (2018)
Review paper
Published online: 2019-03-15

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Advances in systemic treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcomas

Monika Dudzisz-Śledź1, Paweł Rogala1
Oncol Clin Pract 2018;14(6):377-391.

Abstract

Systemic treatment in soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is an important element of therapy in a disease eligible for combined treatment with a radical intention and is the basis for the treatment of an unresectable or metastatic disease. The possibilities of treating STS are limited and for many years progress in this area was minor and the main drugs used in this indication were and still remain anthracyclines and alkylating agents. Clinical trials with new drugs are difficult for STS due to the heterogeneity of these tumours and due to their rare occurrence. Over the past two decades, there have been tested many substances in this indication, including molecularly targeted drugs. Great success was imatinib in the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST). Other drugs in STS have been tested and approved for use, e.g. sunitinib and regorafenib in the treatment of GIST, pazopanib in the treatment of non-GIST STS, trabectedin and olaratumab in the treatment of STS. First reports on the effectiveness of immunotherapy in the treatment of rare subtypes of STS are also available.

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