Chemotherapy for soft tissue sarcoma

Abstract

Adriamycin is the only active single agent for patients with metastatic sarcoma; combination chemotherapy regimens that omit Adriamycin are ineffective in adults. Despite early success with CYVADIC, there have been recent doubts regarding its efficacy. No other chemotherapeutic combination has provided consistently better results than CYVADIC. As complete responses occur in less than 15 per cent of patients there is a need for further evaluation of new regimens. It is necessary to evaluate new regimens in prospective, randomized studies. Response criteria should be consistent and reproducible. Attenuation schedules and data relating to the total administered dosage should be provided. It would also be beneficial to analyze prognostic variables so that patients liable to an unfavorable outcome could be identified before commencement of treatment.