Time lapse analysis of tumor response in patients with soft tissue sarcoma treated with trabectedin: A pooled analysis of two phase II clinical trials

The time course of the response to each drug is important to avoid inappropriate termination of treatment by misjudging tumor progression; however, little is known about soft tissue sarcoma (STS) regarding this matter. This study aimed to perform a time-lapse analysis of tumor response in patients with STS treated with trabectedin from 2 phase II clinical trials. We examined 66 patients with translocation-related sarcoma registered in 2 Japanese phase II clinical trials. All patients previously received standard therapy before the administration of trabectedin at 1.2 mg/m² every 3 weeks. Imaging evaluation was performed according to the study protocol. The sum of the maximum diameters of the target lesions was calculated and analyzed over time. Among the 66 patients, 9 (13.6%) showed partial response (PR) to trabectedin. Histological diagnoses of these 9 responders comprised 6 myxoid liposarcoma, 2 synovial sarcoma, and a mesenchymal chondrosarcoma. The median period from treatment initiation to the first PR was 123 (range, 34-328) days. The pattern of tumor response to trabectedin showed an increasing tendency in size in the initial stage, usually followed by a size decrease with repeated administration. STS response to trabectedin was characterized as delayed and potentially persistent. Clinicians treating STS with trabectedin should know the features of the response pattern to avoid interrupting the treatment before maximal efficacy is achieved.