Prognostic factors in alveolar soft part sarcoma: A SEER analysis.

OBJECTIVES: We reviewed the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients treated for alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) and analyzed the effect of surgery for patients presenting with and without metastatic disease (DM). METHODS: The SEER Registry was queried for patients with ASPS from 1973-2012. The Kaplan-Meier estimate and Cox proportional hazards were used to analyze survival outcomes and risk variables. RESULTS: Among 251 patients, 43% had DM and 67% locoregional disease (LR) on presentation. The 5-year overall survival (OS) for all patients was 56% (82% and 27% for LR and DM, respectively). Multivariate analysis identified older age (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.03 per year, P < 0.001), tumor size >10 cm (HR = 2.76, P = 0.013), DM at diagnosis (HR = 3.79, P < 0.001), and truncal primary site (HR = 1.63, P = 0.035) as independent factors predicting worse OS. For LR patients, surgery plus radiotherapy (RT) resulted in better OS compared to surgery alone P = 0.014. For DM patients, primary site surgery significantly improved survival (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: ASPS presents with high metastasis rate but has a relatively indolent clinical course and a favorable prognosis with prolonged survival. Aggressive treatment using adjuvant RT with surgery is indicated in patients with LR disease and surgery is indicated in patients presenting with DM. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;113:581-586. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Preoperative radiation therapy combined with radical surgical resection is associated with a lower rate of local recurrence when treating unifocal, primary retroperitoneal liposarcoma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Local recurrence (LR) is the primary cause of death in patients with retroperitoneal liposarcoma (RP-LPS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the addition of preoperative radiation therapy (XRT) to radical resection for RP-LPS at a single institution was associated with improved LR. METHODS: This retrospective analysis included patients with unifocal, primary RP-LPS who underwent complete R0/R1 resection at a single institution between 1991 and 2013. Multiple patient, tumor, and surgeon characteristics were tested to evaluate their association to LR (recurrence in the retroperitoneal space). We used competing risk hazards regression to evaluate the effect of preoperative XRT on the probability of LR. RESULTS: There were 41 patients with liposarcoma histology whose tumors included entirely well-differentiated (N = 13), de-differentiated components (n = 26), myxoid (n = 1), and NOS (n = 1). Preoperative XRT was significantly associated with a lower probability of LR (HR 0.11, 95%CI 0.01-0.91, P = 0.04) and a higher 5-year local recurrence-free survival (95.6%, 95%CI 72.4-99.4%, vs. 75.0%, 95%CI 40.8-91.2%; P = 0.0213), but not with 5-year distant recurrence-free survival or disease-specific survival. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative XRT combined with complete R0/R1 resection for unifocal, primary RP-LPS was associated with improved LR and it should be considered in the multimodality treatment of RP-LPS. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:814-820. © 2016 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Clinical outcomes for patients after surgery and radiation therapy for mesenchymal chondrosarcomas.

INTRODUCTION: We report the outcome of 23 patients with mesenchymal chondrosarcomas treated with surgery and radiation therapy +/- chemotherapy. The intent of the project was to review the impact of patient and treatment variables on treatment outcome, in particular with regard to extent of surgery and radiation dose. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients with mesenchymal chondrosarcomas were treated with surgery and radiation therapy (min. dose 44 Gy; max. dose 78 Gy; median dose 60 Gy; mean dose 61 Gy). RESULTS: The median survival for the entire cohort of patients was 21.65 years (95% confidence interval ± 4.25). The 5- and 10-year OS was 78.6%. Median disease-free survival for the 23 patients was 7.2 years. Disease-free survival (DFS) at 3 and 5 years was 70.7% and 57.8%, respectively. The local control rate at 5 and 10 years was 89.5% (95%CI 64.1-97.3%). Only three patients experienced local failure, three patients had regional failure, and eight developed distant metastases. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of patients local tumor control was high when using a combination of surgery and radiation. There was not a clear relationship between radiation dose and local tumor control. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:982-986. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Phase 1 study of oral abexinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, in combination with doxorubicin in patients with metastatic sarcoma.

BACKGROUND: It has been demonstrated that several inhibitors of histone deacetylase (HDAC) can enhance chemotherapy-induced apoptosis and reduce sarcoma tumor volume in preclinical models. The authors sought to determine the maximum tolerated dose, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, safety, and toxicity of the HDAC inhibitor abexinostat (PCI-24781) when administered with doxorubicin to patients with metastatic sarcomas. METHODS: Participants were enrolled in a standard, phase 1, 3 + 3, dose-escalation study design. Abexinostat was administered on days 1 through 5 with 75 mg/m(2) of doxorubicin administered on day 4 of every 21-day cycle until patients developed disease progression or drug intolerance or reached a cumulative lifetime doxorubicin dose of 450 mg/m(2). Granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) support was provided at physician discretion on arm A and was provided to all participants in arm B. From 3 to 6 participants initially received abexinostat 30 mg/m(2) twice daily, and subsequent cohorts were administered doses of 15 mg/m(2), 45 mg/m(2), or 60 mg/m(2) twice daily. All patients without progressive disease after receiving a cumulative lifetime doxorubicin dose of 450 mg/m(2) were given the option to continue with abexinostat as a single agent until they developed disease progression. RESULTS: In total, 22 participants (10 who had previously experienced tumor growth after doxorubicin therapy) were enrolled (6 in arm A, 14 in arm B), 20 were evaluable for dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), and 17 were evaluable for radiologic response. In arm A, participants received abexinostat 15 mg/m(2) or 30 mg/m(2) twice daily. DLTs of grade 3 and 4 neutropenia were observed in 2 of 3 participants who received abexinostat 30 mg/m(2) twice daily. Neither of those patients received G-CSF prophylaxis. In arm B, participants received abexinostat at doses of 30 mg/m(2), 45 mg/m(2), or 60 mg/m(2) twice daily, all with mandated G-CSF support. Two DLTs were observed at the 60 mg/m(2) twice-daily dose (grade 3 infection, grade 4 thrombocytopenia). The pharmacokinetics of abexinostat were not affected by doxorubicin. HDAC activity, as measured by histone acetylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, was maximally inhibited at the abexinostat 30 mg/m(2) twice-daily dose. Of the 17 participants who were evaluable for radiologic response, 1 patient had a partial response, 9 patients had stable disease, and 7 patients had progressive disease as their best response; and 8 patients completed ≥ 5 cycles. Three of those participants had stable disease as their most recent disease status when the current report was written. Four participants who continued on monotherapy remained in stable disease for a median of 9.8 weeks after completing doxorubicin. The most common toxicities were fatigue, thrombocytopenia, and anemia. No study-related deaths were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The maximum tolerated dose for abexinostat was 45 mg/m(2) twice daily administered on days 1 through 5 when patients received doxorubicin 75 mg/m(2) on day 4 of a 3-week cycle and G-CSF support was mandated. Toxicities were manageable, and tumor responses were observed. Additional studies are needed to further define the specific contributions of HDAC inhibition in patients who receive doxorubicin for the treatment of metastatic sarcoma.

Prognostic significance of treatment-induced pathologic necrosis in extremity and truncal soft tissue sarcoma after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Histologic response to chemotherapy has been shown to be an independent prognostic factor in patients with osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma. However, in patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS), the prognostic impact of histologic response to chemotherapy is less clear. In the current study, the authors sought to determine the prognostic significance of treatment-induced pathologic necrosis in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for STS. METHODS: Between 1989 and 2011, a total of 113 patients with grade 2 or 3 (graded according to the National Cancer Institute grading system using 3 tiers) extremity or truncal STS were identified who received neoadjuvant interdigitated chemoradiotherapy according to protocol followed by surgery. The extent of tumor necrosis in the resected specimens was quantified and correlated with outcome. RESULTS: The median tumor necrosis rate was 90%, and 103 patients (91%) received all 3 cycles of planned neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The likelihood of achieving ≥95% necrosis was not related to the number of preoperative cycles of chemotherapy received but was found to be related to tumor histology (62% for malignant fibrous histiocytoma vs 0% for synovial sarcoma [P<.001]; 56% for myxoid liposarcoma vs 0% for synovial sarcoma [P = .002]). At a median follow-up of 6 years, there were no statistically significant differences noted in the 5-year local control, disease-specific survival, and overall survival rates for patients with ≥95% necrosis (50 patients; 44%) and <95% necrosis (63 patients; 56%), even when stratifying by histology. CONCLUSIONS: In a homogeneous population of patients with high-grade extremity and truncal STS who were treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, the extent of pathologic tumor necrosis did not correlate with outcome.

Phase II study of olaparib in patients with refractory Ewing sarcoma following failure of standard chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Preclinical studies have documented antitumor activity of PARP inhibition both in vitro and in vivo, against Ewing sarcoma cells. This study aimed to translate that observation into a clinical trial to assess the efficacy and tolerability of olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, in patients with advanced Ewing sarcoma (EWS) progressing after prior chemotherapy. METHODS: In this nonrandomized phase II trial, adult participants with radiographically measureable metastatic EWS received olaparib tablets, 400 mg orally twice daily, until disease progression or drug intolerance. Tumor measurements were determined by CT or MRI at 6 and 12 weeks after starting olaparib administration, and then every 8 weeks thereafter. Tumor response determinations were made according to RECIST 1.1, and adverse event determinations were made according to CTCAE, version 4.0. A total of 22 participants were planned to be enrolled using a conventional 2-step phase II study design. If no objective responses were observed after 12 participants had been followed for at least 3 months, further accrual would be stopped. RESULTS: 12 participants were enrolled, and all were evaluable. There were no objective responses (PR/CR), 4 SD (duration 10.9, 11.4, 11.9, and 17.9 wks), and 8 PD as best response. Of the SD, 2 had minor responses (-9% and -11.7% by RECIST 1.1). The median time to disease progression was 5.7 weeks. Further enrollment was therefore discontinued. No significant or unexpected toxicities were observed with olaparib, with only a single case each of grade 3 anemia and grade 3 thrombocytopenia observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first report of a prospective phase II trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a PARP inhibitor in patients with advanced Ewing sarcoma after failure of standard chemotherapy. Olaparib administration was safe and well tolerated when administered to this small heavily pre-treated cohort at the 400 mg BID dose, although the median duration of dosing was for only 5.7 weeks. No significant responses or durable disease control was seen, and the short average interval to disease progression underscores the aggressiveness of this disease. Other studies to combine cytotoxic chemotherapy with PARP inhibition in EWS are actively ongoing. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01583543.

Long-term results of Phase II study of high dose photon/proton radiotherapy in the management of spine chordomas, chondrosarcomas, and other sarcomas.

BACKGROUND: Negative surgical margins are uncommon for spine sarcomas; hence, adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) may be recommended but tumor dose may be constrained by spinal cord, nerve, and viscera tolerance. METHODS: Prospective Phase II clinical trial incorporating high dose RT. Eligible patients had primary or locally recurrent thoracic, lumbar, and/or sacral spine/paraspinal chordomas or sarcomas. Treatment included pre- and/or post-operative photon/proton RT ± radical resection. RESULTS: Fifty patients (29 chordoma, 14 chondrosarcoma, 7 other) underwent gross total (n = 25) or subtotal (n = 12) resection or biopsy (n = 13). RT dose was ≤72.0 GyRBE in 25 patients and 76.6-77.4 GyRBE in 25 patients. With 7.3-year median follow-up, the 5 and 8-year actuarial local control (LC) rates were 94% and 85% for primary tumors and 81% and 74% for the entire group. Local recurrence was less common for primary tumors, 4/36 (11%) versus 7/14 (50%) for recurrent tumors, P = 0.002. The 8-year actuarial risk of grade 3-4 late RT morbidity was 13%. No myelopathies were seen. No late neurologic toxicities noted with radiation doses ≤72.0 GyRBE while three sacral neuropathies appeared after doses of 76.6-77.4 GyRBE. CONCLUSIONS: LC with this treatment is high in patients with primary tumors. Late morbidity appears to be acceptable.

ß-Catenin mutation status and outcomes in sporadic desmoid tumors.

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the gene-encoding ß-catenin, CTNNB1, are highly prevalent in sporadic desmoid tumors and may predict the risk for recurrence. We sought to determine the prevalence of CTNNB1 mutations in a large cohort of sporadic desmoid tumors and to determine whether CTNNB1 mutation status correlates with disease outcome. METHODS: Single-base extension genotyping of the CTNNB1 gene was performed on 145 sporadic, paraffin-embedded desmoid tumor specimens. Correlation of mutation status with outcome was performed on a subset of 115 patients who underwent macroscopically complete surgical resection. RESULTS: CTNNB1 mutations were detected in 106 of 145 (73%) tumor specimens and in 86 of 115 (75%) specimens from patients who underwent curative-intent surgical resection, including discrete mutations in the following codons of CTNNB1 exon 3: T41A (46%), S45F (25%), S45P (1.7%), and S45C (0.9%). Desmoid tumors of the superficial trunk were significantly less likely to harbor CTNNB1 mutations than tumors located elsewhere, but none of the other examined clinicopathologic factors were found to be associated with CTNNB1 mutation status. At a median follow-up of 31 months, 5-year recurrence-free survival was slightly, although not statistically significantly, worse for patients with ß-catenin-mutated tumors than for those with wild-type tumors (58% vs. 74%, respectively). The specific CTNNB1 codon mutation did not correlate with the risk for recurrence. CONCLUSION: CTNNB1 mutations are indeed common in sporadic desmoid tumors. However, our study did not detect a statistically significant difference in recurrence risk according to either the CTNNB1 mutation status or the specific CTNNB1 mutation.

Long-term follow-up of patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy for large, extremity soft tissue sarcomas.

BACKGROUND: Patients with large, high-grade, extremity soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are at significant risk for distant recurrence and death. A regimen of preoperative chemotherapy consisting of mesna, Adriamycin (doxorubicin), ifosfamide, and dacarbazine (MAID), interdigitated with radiotherapy (RT) and followed by resection and postoperative chemotherapy with or without RT, has demonstrated high rates of local and distant control. We report the long-term follow-up data on 48 patients treated with this regimen compared to an historical matched-control patient population. METHODS: Adult patients with high-grade extremity STS ≥ 8 cm were treated with 3 cycles of preoperative chemotherapy combined with 44 Gy of RT followed by surgery. Three cycles of postoperative MAID were planned. For patients with positive surgical margins, 16 Gy of RT was delivered postoperatively. RESULTS: Patients received the MAID/RT regimen from 1989 through 1999. After a median follow-up of 9.3 years in surviving patients in the MAID group and 13.2 years in surviving patients in the control group, the 7-year disease-specific and overall survival rates were 81% and 50% (P = .004) and 79% and 45% (P = .003) for the MAID and control patients, respectively. Five of 11 patients in the MAID group and 7 of 25 control patients died of sarcoma ≥5 years after treatment. One patient in the MAID group developed a fatal myelodysplasia at 53 months. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with high-risk, extremity STS, the significant survival benefits conferred by an intense regimen of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery are sustained even with long-term follow-up.

Cardiac angiosarcoma management and outcomes: 20-year single-institution experience.

PURPOSE: To identify the clinicopathologic characteristics, treatments, and outcomes of a series of patients with primary cardiac angiosarcoma (AS). METHODS: This retrospective case series was set in a tertiary referral center with a multidisciplinary clinic. Consecutive patients with institutionally confirmed pathologic diagnosis of cardiac AS from January 1990 to May 2011 were reviewed. Main outcome measures included patient demographics, tumor characteristics, management strategies, disease response, and survival. RESULTS: Data from 18 patients (78 % male) were reviewed. Sixteen patients (89 %) had AS originating in the right atrium. At diagnosis, eight patients (44 %) had localized/locally advanced disease and ten patients (56 %) had metastatic disease. Initial treatment strategies included resection (44 %), chemotherapy (39 %), and radiotherapy (11 %). Of the eight patients with localized/locally advanced AS, two underwent macroscopically complete resection with negative microscopic margins, one underwent macroscopically complete resection with positive microscopic margins, one underwent macroscopically incomplete resection, two received chemotherapy followed by surgery and intraoperative radiotherapy, one received chemotherapy alone, and one died before planned radiotherapy. Median follow-up was 12 months. Median overall survival (OS) was 13 months for the entire cohort; median OS was 19.5 months for those presenting with localized/locally advanced AS and 6 months for those with metastatic disease at presentation (p = 0.08). Patients who underwent primary tumor resection had improved median OS compared with patients whose tumors remained in situ (17 vs. 5 months, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac AS is associated with poor prognosis. Resection of primary tumor should be attempted when feasible, as OS may be improved. Nevertheless, most patients die of disease progression.

Desmoid tumor: analysis of prognostic factors and outcomes in a surgical series.

BACKGROUND: Desmoid tumors are rare and exhibit a highly unpredictable natural history. We sought to analyze prognostic factors associated with recurrence in a large single-institution study of patients with desmoid tumors. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of 177 patients with desmoid tumor who underwent macroscopically complete surgical resection, with or without the addition of radiotherapy (RT) or systemic therapy, from 1970 to 2009. We examined patterns of presentation, all known risk factors for recurrence, and their association with recurrence-free survival (RFS). RESULTS: Twenty-two patients (12 %) had intra-abdominal desmoid tumors, and 155 (88 %) had extra-abdominal tumors. Patterns of presentation included primary (n = 133, 75 %) and locally recurrent (n = 44, 25 %) disease. Treatment was surgery alone in 125 patients (71 %), surgery and RT in 36 (20 %), and surgery and systemic therapy with or without RT in 20 (11 %). Median follow-up was 40 months. Overall, the local relapse rate was 29 %, and 10-year RFS was 60 %. R0 resection status was the only predictor of freedom from local recurrence on multivariate analysis (odds ratio 0.32; 95 % confidence interval 0.15-0.66; P = 0.002). The selective use of adjuvant RT appeared to improve local control in patients with positive margins. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with desmoid tumors undergoing surgery, wide excision with negative margins should be the goal, but not at the expense of function, as fewer than half of patients with positive margins will experience recurrence.

Proton-based radiotherapy for unresectable or incompletely resected osteosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: A study was undertaken to assess clinical outcome and the role of proton therapy for local control of osteosarcoma (OSA). METHODS: All patients who received proton therapy or mixed photon-proton radiotherapy from 1983 to 2009 at the Massachusetts General Hospital were reviewed. Criteria for proton therapy were the need for high dose in the context of highly conformal radiotherapy of unresected or partially resected OSA, positive postoperative margins, postoperative imaging studies with macroscopic disease, or incomplete resection as defined by the surgeon. The primary endpoint was local control of the site treated; secondary endpoints were disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), long-term toxicity, and prognostic factors associated with clinical outcome. RESULTS: Fifty-five patients with a median age of 29 years (range, 2-76 years) were offered proton therapy. The mean dose was 68.4 gray (Gy; standard deviation, 5.4 Gy). Of the total dose, 58.2% (range, 11%-100%) was delivered with protons. Local control after 3 and 5 years was 82% and 72%, respectively. The distant failure rate was 26% after 3 and 5 years. The 5-year DFS was 65%, and the 5-year OS was 67%. The extent of surgical resection did not correlate with outcome. Risk factors for local failure were ≥ 2 grade disease (P < .0001) and total treatment length (P = .008). Grade 3 to 4 late toxicity was seen in 30.1 % of patients. One patient died from treatment-associated acute lymphocytic leukemia, and 1 from secondary carcinoma of the maxilla. CONCLUSIONS: Proton therapy to deliver high radiotherapy doses allows locally curative treatment for some patients with unresectable or incompletely resected OSA.

Proton-beam, intensity-modulated, and/or intraoperative electron radiation therapy combined with aggressive anterior surgical resection for retroperitoneal sarcomas.

BACKGROUND: We sought to reduce local recurrence for retroperitoneal sarcomas by using a coordinated strategy of advanced radiation techniques and aggressive en-bloc surgical resection. METHODS: Proton-beam radiation therapy (PBRT) and/or intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) were delivered to improve tumor target coverage and spare selected adjacent organs. Surgical resection of tumor and adjacent organs was performed to obtain a disease-free anterior margin. Intraoperative electron radiation therapy (IOERT) was delivered to any close posterior margin. RESULTS: Twenty patients had primary tumors and eight had recurrent tumors. Tumors were large (median size 9.75 cm), primarily liposarcomas and leiomyosarcomas (71%), and were mostly of intermediate or high grade (81%). PBRT and/or IMRT were delivered to all patients, preferably preoperatively (75%), to a median dose of 50 Gy. Surgical resection included up to five adjacent organs, most commonly the colon (n = 7) and kidney (n = 7). Margins were positive for disease, usually posteriorly, in 15 patients (54%). IOERT was delivered to the posterior margin in 12 patients (43%) to a median dose of 11 Gy. Surgical complications occurred in eight patients (28.6%), and radiation-related complications occurred in four patients (14%). After a median follow-up of 33 months, only two patients (10%) with primary disease experienced local recurrence, while three patients (37.5%) with recurrent disease experienced local recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Aggressive resection of retroperitoneal sarcomas can achieve a disease-negative anterior margin. PBRT and/or IMRT with IOERT may possibly deliver sufficient radiation dose to the posterior margin to control microscopic residual disease. This strategy may minimize radiation-related morbidity and reduce local recurrence, especially in patients with primary disease.

Role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the staging of synovial, epithelioid, and clear cell sarcomas.

BACKGROUND: Soft tissue sarcomas generally have a

Radiation therapy for control of soft-tissue sarcomas resected with positive margins.

PURPOSE: Positive margins (PM) remain after surgery in some soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients. We investigated the efficacy of radiation therapy (RT) in STS patients with PM. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A retrospective chart review was performed on 154 patients with STS at various anatomic sites with PM, defined as tumor on ink, who underwent RT with curative intent between 1970 and 2001. Local control (LC), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were evaluated by univariate (log-rank) and multivariate analysis of prognostic and treatment factors. RESULTS: At 5 years, actuarial LC, DFS, and OS rates were: 76%, 46.7%, and 65.2%, respectively. LC was highest with extremity lesions (p < 0.01), radiation dose >64 Gy (p < 0.05), microscopically (vs. grossly visible) positive margin (p = 0.03), and superficial lesions (p = 0.05). Patients receiving >64 Gy had higher 5-year LC, DFS, and OS rates of 85%, 52.1%, and 67.8% vs. 66.1%, 41.8%, and 62.9% if < or =64 Gy, p < 0.04. OS was worse in patients with G2/G3 tumors with local failure (LF), p < 0.001. Other known prognostic factors, including grade, stage, size, and age (>50), also significantly influenced OS. By multivariate analysis, the best predictors of LC were site (extremity vs. other), p < 0.01 and dose (>64 vs. < or =64 Gy), p < 0.05; the best predictors for OS were size, p < 0.001, gross vs. microscopic PM, p < 0.05, and LF, p < 0.01. CONCLUSION: Local control is achieved in most PM STS patients undergoing RT. Doses >64 Gy, superficial location, and extremity site are associated with improved LC. OS is worse in patients with tumors with lesions >5 cm, grossly positive margins, and after local failure.

CD44 is a direct target of miR-199a-3p and contributes to aggressive progression in osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone malignancy in children and adolescents. Herein, we investigated the role of cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44), a cell-surface glycoprotein involved in cell-cell interactions, cell adhesion, and migration in osteosarcoma. We constructed a human osteosarcoma tissue microarray with 114 patient tumor specimens, including tumor tissues from primary, metastatic, and recurrent stages, and determined the expression of CD44 by immunohistochemistry. Results showed that CD44 was overexpressed in metastatic and recurrent osteosarcoma as compared with primary tumors. Higher expression of CD44 was found in both patients with shorter survival and patients who exhibited unfavorable response to chemotherapy before surgical resection. Additionally, the 3'-untranslated region of CD44 mRNA was the direct target of microRNA-199a-3p (miR-199a-3p). Overexpression of miR-199a-3p significantly inhibited CD44 expression in osteosarcoma cells. miR-199a-3p is one of the most dramatically decreased miRs in osteosarcoma cells and tumor tissues as compared with normal osteoblast cells. Transfection of miR-199a-3p significantly increased the drug sensitivity through down-regulation of CD44 in osteosarcoma cells. Taken together, these results suggest that the CD44-miR-199a-3p axis plays an important role in the development of metastasis, recurrence, and drug resistance of osteosarcoma. Developing strategies to target CD44 may improve the clinical outcome of osteosarcoma.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy for large extremity soft-tissue sarcomas.

PURPOSE: Treatment of extremity soft-tissue sarcomas yields excellent local control, but distant failure is common with large, high-grade tumors. A regimen of preoperative chemotherapy consisting of mesna, adriamycin, ifosfamide, and dacarbazine (MAID) interdigitated with radiotherapy followed by resection and postoperative chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy was designed to improve treatment outcome. We report the mature outcome data on 48 treated patients and compare them with the data of an historical matched control patient population. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Adult patients with high-grade extremity soft-tissue sarcomas >or=8 cm were treated with three cycles of preoperative chemotherapy combined with 44 Gy of radiotherapy followed by surgery. Three cycles of postoperative MAID were planned. For patients with positive surgical margins, 16 Gy was delivered postoperatively. RESULTS: All 48 patients (M0) received the MAID protocol treatment, and their outcome was superior to that of the historical control patients. The 5-year actuarial local control, freedom from distant metastasis, disease-free survival, and overall survival rate was 92% and 86% (p = 0.1155), 75% and 44% (p = 0.0016), 70% and 42% (p = 0.0002), and 87% and 58% (p = 0.0003) for the MAID and control patient groups, respectively. Acute hematologic toxicity in the MAID group included febrile neutropenia in 12 patients (25%). Wound healing complications occurred in 14 (29%) of 48 MAID patients. One MAID patient developed late fatal myelodysplasia. CONCLUSION: After aggressive chemoradiation and surgery, these patients showed a significant reduction in distant metastases, with a highly significant gain in disease-free and overall survival compared with a historical control group. On the basis of this experience, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group conducted a multi-institutional trial.

Role of resection of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1.

OBJECT: Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are aggressive sarcomas that often arise from major peripheral nerves. Approximately half of MPNSTs arise in patients with neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) who, in comparison with patients without NF1, present at younger ages and with larger tumors that are commonly associated with extensive plexiform neurofibromas. These tumors therefore pose a particularly difficult treatment challenge because of the morbidity often associated with attempted gross-total resection (GTR). Here, the authors aim to examine what role the extent of resection and other covariates play in the long-term survival of patients with NF1 in the setting of MPNST. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed the records of 23 adult patients with NF1 who underwent surgery for MPNSTs at their institution between 1991 and 2008. The primary end points of the study were mortality, local recurrence, and metastasis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were evaluated for all patients. Differences for each of the primary end points were evaluated based on cause-specific covariates, which included tiered tumor size, tumor location, grade, resection margin status, postoperative weakness, and use of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Multivariate analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Gross-total resection (p = 0.01) and surgical margin status (p = 0.034) had a statistically important role in prolonging overall survival in patients with NF1 by univariate analysis. When tumor size, location, grade, postoperative weakness, and radiation therapy were also taken into account using multivariate analysis, GTR continued to be a significant prognostic factor (p = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that GTR offers significant long-term benefit on survival in patients with NF1. Benefit on survival occurred independently of all other covariates, suggesting that complete resection should be the principal goal of treatment in this patient population.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for patients with high-risk extremity and truncal sarcomas: a 10-year single institution retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with large, high-grade extremity and truncal soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are at considerable risk for recurrence. A regimen of pre-operative chemotherapy consisting of mesna, adriamycin, ifosfamide and dacarbazine (MAID), interdigitated with radiotherapy (RT), followed by resection and post-operative chemotherapy with or without RT, has demonstrated high rates of local and distant control. The goal of this study is to assess outcomes in a recent cohort of patients treated on this regimen. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed records of 66 consecutive patients with STS of the extremity or trunk who were treated with the aforementioned regimen from May 2000 to April 2011. Clinicopathologic characteristics and patient outcomes were analysed. RESULTS: Sixty-six patients were analysed and were equally divided between grade 2 and 3 tumours. Margins were negative in 57 (89%) patients and positive in seven (11%) patients. At a median follow-up of 46 months, there were six (9%) locoregional and 20 (30%) distant recurrences. The locoregional and distant 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 91% and 64%, respectively. The 5-year overall (OS) and disease-specific survival rates were 86% and 89%, respectively. There were no treatment-related deaths or secondary myelodysplasias. Thirty-four (52%) patients had grade 3 or 4 acute haematologic chemotherapy-related toxicity. There were no statistically significant predictors of OS or RFS. CONCLUSIONS: For a contemporary cohort of patients with high-risk extremity and truncal STS, a regimen of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery continues to result in high rates of survival with tolerable short- and long-term toxicity.

Establishment and characterization of a novel chordoma cell line: CH22.

Chordoma is a rare primary malignant bone tumor and there exist only a few established human chordoma cell lines. The scarcity of robust chordoma cell lines has limited the ability to study this tumor. In this report, we describe the establishment of a novel chordoma cell line and characterize its in vitro and in vivo behaviors. The tumor tissue was isolated from a patient with recurrent chordoma of the sacrum. After 6 months in culture, the chordoma cell line, referred here as CH22, was established. Microscopic analysis of two-dimensional culture confirmed that the CH22 cells exhibited a typical vacuolated cytoplasm similar to the well-established chordoma cell line U-CH1. Electron microscopy showed cohesive cells with numerous surface filopodia, pockets of glycogen and aggregates of intermediate tonofilaments in cytoplasm. Three-dimensional culture revealed that the CH22 cells could grow and form clusters by day 8. The MTT assays demonstrated that, compared with sensitive osteosarcoma cell lines, CH22 cells were relatively resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic drugs. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analysis confirmed that the CH22 cells expressed brachyury, vimentin, and cytokeratin. Finally, histological analysis of CH22 xenograft tumor tissues demonstrated the appearance of physaliphorous cells and positive staining of brachyury, cytokeratin, and S100. By CT and MRI, imaging xenografts showed the typical appearances seen in human chordomas. These findings suggest that the established novel human chordoma cell line CH22 and its tumorigenecity in SCID nude mice may serve as an important model for studying chordoma cell biology and the development of new therapeutic modalities.