Dr. George Discusses Ongoing Trials in Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Suzanne George, MD, director of Clinical Research, Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and an associate professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses ongoing trials in soft tissue sarcoma (STS).

There are several ongoing trials in STS, including in leiomyosarcoma. Although the phase III ANNOUNCE trial with olaratumab (Lartruvo) and doxorubicin failed to confirm a clinical benefit in patients with advanced or metastatic STS compared with the use of doxorubicin alone, ongoing trials with olaratumab in combination with other chemotherapies are also being explored, says George.

In leiomyosarcoma, several trials with targeted therapies are also underway; however, the challenge with this approach is that physicians do not yet have a singular molecular driver for which to target, says George. Nonetheless, there are some biologic pathways that are thought to be potential vulnerabilities, including the PI3K pathway, and potentially, the mTOR pathway. Immunotherapy is another area of interest, although the majority of studies conducted to date have not demonstrated significant responses.