Dr. Blay on the Current Treatment Challenges in Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Jean-Yves Blay, MD, professor of Medicine, Université Claude Bernard, scientific director, Canceropole Lyon Rhône Alpes, vice chairman, EORTC Translational Research Advisory Committee, member, the Protocol Review Committee of EORTC, chairman, the Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma group of EORTC, the French Sarcoma Group, discusses current treatment challenges in soft tissue sarcomas.

In France, patients with sarcomas or suspected sarcomas are required to undergo a pathology review for soft tissue sarcomas, and this practice has been in place for about 10 years, Blay says. Under this system, all diagnoses of soft tissue sarcoma undergo review and confirmation by an expert pathologist, Blay explains. Each diagnosis also undergoes surgical review and genomic testing when needed, Blay adds.

Because of this process, the main challenge in the soft tissue sarcomas remains in the referral of patients for earlier management of their disease, which is not mandatory, Blay explains. Despite an increase in the quality of care available for these patients, the proportion of patients who are reaching oncologists at a referral center before the first treatment is limited to about 55%, Blay continues. Those 55% of patients tend to have better outcomes than those who are not referred, and more must be done to address the patient population, Blay concludes.