Adverse events common in patients with epithelioid sarcoma receiving systemic therapies

More than half of patients receiving systemic therapies for the treatment of advanced epithelioid sarcoma (ES) experience adverse events, according to a study.

In this retrospective study, the medical records of 74 patients with advanced ES who were starting first-line or ≥2 lines of systemic therapy, were reviewed. In total, 85% had metastatic disease. The most common first-line regimens were anthracycline-based (54%) or gemcitabine-based (24%).

The real-world overall response rate and real-world duration of response for patients on first-line systemic therapy was 15% and 20%. The median real-world duration of response, median real-world progression-free survival, the median overall survival was 3.3 months, 2.5 months, and 15.2 months for these patients.

The real-world overall response rate and real-world disease control rate (defined as stable disease for ≥32 weeks or any duration of response) for patients on ≥2 lines of systemic therapy were 9% and 20%. The median real-world duration of response and median real-world progression-free survival was 4.5 months, 6.0 months for these patients.

Adverse events were reported in 51.4% of patients, with febrile neutropenia (14%), pain (10%), anemia, dyspnea, fever, thrombocytopenia, or transaminitis (5% each), the most reported.

References
Gounder MM, Merriam P, Ratan R, et al. Real-world outcomes of patients with locally advanced or metastatic epithelioid sarcoma. Cancer. 2020;DOI: 10.1002/cncr.33365. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33296083.