Kumar Sankhala, MD, medical director of Clinical Research, Sarcoma Oncology Center, discusses challenges facing the treatment of angiosarcoma.

Angiosarcoma is a challenging subtype of sarcoma as it is a very aggressive tumor, explains Sankhala. There are some chemotherapy drugs such as paclitaxel and doxorubicin that respond very well but recurs and progresses quickly.

According to Sankhala, the discovery of the TRC105 and pazopanib will hopefully achieve prolonged stabilization of the responses in these patients with angiosarcoma, states Sankhala.

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Dr. Sankhala on Challenges Facing the Treatment of Angiosarcoma

Kumar Sankhala, MD, medical director of Clinical Research, Sarcoma Oncology Center, discusses the significance of the combination of the endoglin antibody TRC105 plus pazopanib (Votrient) in patients with angiosarcoma.

Angiosarcoma is a challenging subtype of sarcoma that is also very aggressive, Sankhala explains. There are some chemotherapy options used to treat these patients, including paclitaxel and doxorubicin. While patients do respond to the chemotherapy, their disease recurs and progresses quickly, he adds.

With the discovery of TRC105, researchers predict that this will achieve prolonged stabilization of responses in these patients, Sankhala explains.

Dr. Sankhala on the Significance of TRC105/Pazopanib in Angiosarcoma

Kumar Sankhala, MD, medical director of Clinical Research, Sarcoma Oncology Center, discusses results of a recent trial looking at the combination of endoglin antibody TRC105 and pazopanib in patients with advanced angiosarcoma.

Pazopanib is approved for the treatment of advanced angiosarcoma, but evidence of activity has been modest, with a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 3 months, and a median overall survival (OS) of 9.9 months, according to a recent study in which none of the patients achieved complete responses.

Endoglin is a surface receptor expressed on activated endothelium, including tumor vasculature, and it is also expressed on angiosarcoma tumor tissue and could be a potential driver of this endothelial malignancy. The receptor may mediate resistance to pazopanib. A phase Ib/IIa study of the endoglin antibody TRC105 combined with pazopanib in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma was previously reported at the 2016 ASCO meeting. The current results demonstrate this combination’s activity in an expansion cohort of patients with angiosarcoma.

In this expansion cohort, the combination treatment was both active and well tolerated, and it led to durable complete responses. A global phase III study of pazopanib with or without TRC105 is now planned.

Kumar Sankhala, MD

Articles

Dr. Sankhala on Challenges Facing the Treatment of Angiosarcoma

Dr. Sankhala on the Significance of TRC105/Pazopanib in Angiosarcoma

Dr. Sankhala on the TRC105/Pazopanib Combination in Angiosarcoma