Single-agent gemcitabine in patients with advanced, pre-treated angiosarcoma: A multicenter, retrospective study

Area of Science:

• Medical Oncology
• Clinical Pharmacology
• Cancer Research

Background:

• Angiosarcoma is a rare and aggressive soft tissue sarcoma.
• Gemcitabine has shown promise in small studies for angiosarcoma treatment.
• Limited data exists on single-agent gemcitabine in heavily pre-treated advanced angiosarcoma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy and activity of single-agent gemcitabine in a larger cohort of advanced angiosarcoma patients.
• To assess tumor response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in this patient population.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of electronic medical records for adult patients with advanced angiosarcoma treated with single-agent gemcitabine.
• Patient data collected from January 2010 to January 2021.
• Tumor response assessed using RECIST 1.1 criteria; toxicity graded per NCI-CTC v5.0.

Main Results:

• 42 patients were identified, with 90% having prior anthracyclines and weekly paclitaxel.
• Best overall response included partial response (PR) in 38% and stable disease (SD) in 24%.
• All 8 patients with cardiac angiosarcoma achieved PR; median PFS was 5.4 months, median OS was 9.9 months.

Conclusions:

• Single-agent gemcitabine exhibits clinically meaningful activity in advanced, heavily pre-treated angiosarcoma.
• Gemcitabine represents a viable treatment option for patients with limited therapeutic choices.
• Further investigation into gemcitabine's role in angiosarcoma management is warranted.