Soft Tissue Sarcoma Research
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Combination Chemo Helps People with Leiomyosarcoma Live Longer
Results from a French clinical trial have identified what experts say should now be the recommended initial treatment of advanced leiomyosarcoma. In the trial, the combination of trabectedin (Yondelis) and doxorubicin improved survival by a median of 9 months.
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Clinical Trial Results Support Uninterrupted Use of Imatinib for Some Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors
Trial participants who stopped imatinib had a more rapid worsening of disease, a shorter time until resistance, and did not live as long as participants who continued the therapy uninterrupted.
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Trial Results Confirm Effectiveness of Atezolizumab Against a Rare Sarcoma
Treatment with atezolizumab (Tecentriq) shrank tumors in about 40% of people with alveolar soft part sarcoma, including one complete response, new clinical trial findings show. Some people were later able to stop treatment without the cancer returning.
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Nirogacestat May Offer Hope to People with Desmoid Tumors
In a clinical trial, the drug nirogacestat shrank tumors in 40% of people with desmoid tumors. Treatment with nirogacestat also substantially improved progression-free survival, pain, and physical functioning, compared with patients treated with a placebo.
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NCI Clinical Trial Leads to Atezolizumab Approval for Advanced Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma
A clinical trial led by NCI has resulted in FDA approval of the immunotherapy drug atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to treat advanced alveolar soft part sarcoma.
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Drug Combination Shows Promise for Rhabdomyosarcoma, but Can It Get to Clinical Trials?
An NCI study in mice has identified a drug combination that may help treat children with rhabdomyosarcoma. But one of the drugs, ganitumab, is no longer being made. Based on the study's promising results, the NCI researchers who led the study want to test the combination in humans.
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Targeting the Accomplice: A Potential Treatment Approach for Rhabdomyosarcoma
The fusion protein that drives the growth and survival of some rhabdomyosarcoma tumors relies on the KDM4B enzyme, researchers have found. Treating mice with a KDM4B-blocking drug and chemotherapy nearly eliminated rhabdomyosarcoma tumors with the fusion protein.
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Pazopanib Shows Promise for Children, Adults with Soft Tissue Sarcomas
For children and adults with advanced soft tissue sarcoma, adding pazopanib (Votrient) to chemotherapy and radiation before surgery may be a promising treatment option, early results from a clinical trial suggest.
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Trial Should Change Care for AIDS-Related Kaposi Sarcoma in Sub-Saharan Africa
For people with advanced AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma in sub-Saharan Africa, results from a large clinical trial are expected to change treatment. In the trial, paclitaxel greatly improved outcomes compared with treatments typically used in the region.
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Avapritinib Approved to Treat GIST with a Rare Gene Alteration
Avapritinib (Ayvakit) has been approved for adults with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) whose tumors have an alteration in a portion of the PDGFRA gene called exon 18. The approval applies to those whose tumors cannot be removed with surgery or have spread.
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Epigenetic Changes Pinpointed as the Cause of Some GISTs
Scientists may have pinpointed the cause of some gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), a rare cancer, according to a new NCI-funded study. However, the culprit isn’t a harmful genetic mutation, but another type of genetic change, what are called epigenetic alterations.
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Immunotherapy Effective in Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma
People with advanced alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS), a rare cancer, appear to benefit from a type of immunotherapy called an immune checkpoint inhibitor, according to results from a small clinical trial.
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NIH-funded study shows sorafenib improves progression-free survival for patients with rare sarcomas
Interim results from a clinical trial for patients with desmoid tumors or aggressive fibromatosis (DT/DF) show that the drug sorafenib tosylate (Nexavar) extended progression-free survival compared with a placebo.
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New Targeted Therapies Show Promise for Treating Advanced GIST
Two new targeted therapies have shown promise in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that have developed resistance to standard therapies.
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Olaratumab Approved to Treat Advanced Soft Tissue Sarcoma
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval to olaratumab (Lartruvo®) for the treatment of some patients with soft tissue sarcoma.
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FDA Approves Eribulin Mesylate for Advanced Liposarcoma
The FDA has approved eribulin mesylate for patients with liposarcoma whose cancers are advanced or cannot be removed by surgery and are no longer responding to anthracycline-based chemotherapy.