Abstract
Medical management of soft tissue sarcomas (STS) has been restricted by the limited availability of active drugs. A plethora of new oncologic agents are now available, many of which have specific therapeutic targets. Gemcitabine and docetaxel is a combination of drugs that have limited single-agent activity. Yondelis, a novel chemotherapeutic that binds DNA and functions partially by inhibiting transcription, is being tested alone and in combination with doxorubicin. Inhibitors of mTOR, a serine/threonine kinase that regulates cell cycle activation and cell growth, are also being tested. Growth factor receptor inhibitors are being evaluated in a variety of sarcomas that have been found to express the targets. In addition, a variety of agents are being assessed in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Single agents and agents combined with imatinib are being tested in imatinib-refractory and in metastatic GIST. The increased use of targeted agents underscores the need for understanding sarcoma biology.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 198-205 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2005 |
Keywords
- GIST
- Imatinib refractory
- Kinase inhibitors
- Soft tissue sarcomas
- VEGF
- Yondelis
- mTOR