Trabectedin drug holiday and rechallenge in soft tissue sarcomas: Report of 4 cases and literature review

Abstract

Soft tissue sarcomas are rare neoplasms, with a high mortality rate. Few drugs are available for the treatment of patients affected by metastatic sarcomas, who still have a 5-years survival rate lower than 20%. However, some of the more recent therapies can obtain long lasting responses in a portion of patients, such as Trabectedin. We analyzed four such cases treated at our Institute after progression to an anthracycline based regimen. In each case a therapeutic pause was proposed after at least 6 months of therapy with Trabectedin and in three out of four patients a re-challenge was proposed at progression, achieving again disease control or response. In two cases oligo-progressive sites were treated with localized therapies as stereotactic radiotherapy, delaying the systemic treatment re-start. In this article the reports of the patients involved are presented with a concise review of the relevant literature. Our findings support the favorable safety profile of Trabectedin and the feasibility of drug holidays, which should be at least discussed with the patient.