Efficacy of Gemcitabine-based Chemotherapy in Clear Cell Sarcoma of Soft Tissue

Clear cell sarcoma (CCS) is an aggressive sarcoma subtype, resistant to conventional anthracycline-based chemotherapy and radiation. The diagnosis is often challenging due to similarities with malignant melanoma.

We aimed to analyse the activity of gemcitabine-based chemotherapy in a cohort of patients with CCS treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Five patients with metastatic CCS received gemcitabine as first- or second-line systemic therapy. The median time-to-progression was 10 weeks. The median number of cycles of gemcitabine-based therapy was 3 (range=2-7 cycles). Median overall survival in our cohort was 66 months from the initial diagnosis but in the metastatic setting, the overall survival was reduced to 28 months.

Gemcitabine-based therapy has modest activity in CCS. There remains a significant unmet medical need for novel, effective therapies for this disease.