Treatment of advanced refractory sarcomas with ifosfamide and etoposide combination chemotherapy

• Published in: Cancer investigation Vol. 16; no. 5; p. 297
• Main Authors: Yalçin, S, Güllü, I, Barişta, I, Tekuzman, G, Ozişik, Y, Celik, I, Kars, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 1998
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; Etoposide - administration & dosage; Etoposide - adverse effects; Female; Humans; Ifosfamide - administration & dosage; Ifosfamide - adverse effects; Male; Middle Aged; Sarcoma - drug therapy
• ISSN: 0735-7907
• DOI: 10.3109/07357909809084647

Chemotherapy options for resistant advanced-stage sarcomas are limited and in most cases disappointing. In a phase II study, we treated 26 consecutive patients with refractory advanced sarcoma with ifosfamide and etoposide combination chemotherapy. All patients had received prior doxorubicin- and/or cyclophosphamide-based chemotherapies. Seventeen patients were male and 9 were female. The patients' median age was 35 years (range: 19-67 years). A total of 24 patients were eligible for evaluation of responses. Seven patients had a complete response (CR) (29.1%), 3 had a partial response (PR) (12.5%), 3 had stable disease (SD) (12.5%), and 11 had progressive disease (PD) (45.9%). An overall 41.6% objective response was achieved. Median time to treatment failure was 13.3 months. A total of 108 cycles of therapy were evaluable for evaluation of toxicity. Myelosuppression, observed in 55.5% of the treatment courses, was the major dose-limiting toxicity. Nausea and vomiting, seen in 64% of the courses, were the most important nonhematological side effects. Alopecia was almost universal. Hemorrhagic cystitis was observed in only 1 patient. We have concluded that the combination of ifosfamide, mesna, and etoposide is effective in advanced refractory sarcomas, and has acceptable toxicity.