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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
Establishment of a Primary Culture of Patient-derived Soft Tissue Sarcoma
Published on: April 11, 2018
Treatment of patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma: disappointment or challenge?
Bernd Kasper1, Thierry Gil, Ahmad Awada
1University of Heidelberg, Department of Internal Medicine V, Heidelberg, Germany. mail@berndkasper.de
Purpose Of Review:
We give an overview on the emerging compounds for patients with soft tissue sarcoma. Included are recent developments in targeted therapy, focusing on the following: antiangiogenic and immunomodulatory drugs (e.g. anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 monoclonal antibody), Bcl-2 antisense therapy, raf kinase and mammalian target of rapamycin inhibition, heat shock protein modulators, minor groove binders and other agents being developed.
Recent Findings:
Soft tissue sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of tumours that arise predominantly from the embryonic mesoderm. They account for fewer than 1% of all adult malignancies. The prognosis of patients with advanced metastatic soft tissue sarcoma remains poor, with disease-free survival at 5 years below 10%. Complete resection remains the only potentially curative treatment option. Only few chemotherapeutic agents have been identified to be active, with reported response rates for doxorubicin and ifosfamide of around 20%. New strategies are urgently needed to improve outcomes.
Summary:
Understanding of the molecular biology and pathogenesis of soft tissue sarcomas has been enhanced, and in the near future this should translate into molecular tumour characterization and development of new therapeutic strategies.
Insights
Emerging targeted therapies offer new hope for soft tissue sarcoma patients. Research focuses on novel agents to improve outcomes for this rare and aggressive cancer.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Soft tissue sarcomas are rare cancers originating from mesoderm, comprising <1% of adult malignancies.
- Advanced metastatic soft tissue sarcoma has a poor prognosis, with 5-year disease-free survival below 10%.
- Current chemotherapy options like doxorubicin and ifosfamide show limited efficacy (around 20% response rate), necessitating novel treatment strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an overview of emerging therapeutic compounds for soft tissue sarcoma.
- To highlight recent advancements in targeted therapy for soft tissue sarcoma.
- To discuss various novel agents under development, including antiangiogenic, immunomodulatory, and molecularly targeted drugs.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent developments in targeted therapy for soft tissue sarcoma.
- Focus on emerging compounds including antiangiogenic and immunomodulatory drugs.
- Exploration of novel agents such as Bcl-2 antisense therapy, kinase inhibitors, and heat shock protein modulators.
Main Results:
- Identified several emerging targeted therapies for soft tissue sarcoma.
- Included are antiangiogenic drugs, immunomodulatory agents (e.g., anti-CTLA-4), Bcl-2 antisense therapy, and inhibitors of raf kinase and mTOR.
- Other agents under development include heat shock protein modulators and minor groove binders.
Conclusions:
- Enhanced understanding of soft tissue sarcoma molecular biology and pathogenesis.
- Future developments are expected to enable molecular tumor characterization.
- This understanding will drive the development of new and more effective therapeutic strategies for soft tissue sarcoma.
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