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Updated: Jul 27, 2025
A Mouse Model of Incompletely Resected Soft Tissue Sarcoma for Testing Neoadjuvant Therapies
Published on: July 28, 2020
Predictive Biomarkers of Pathological Response to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Soft Tissue
Anna Szumera-Ciećkiewicz1,2, Klaudia Bobak3, Mateusz J Spałek3,4
1Department of Pathology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, 02781 Warsaw, Poland.
Background:
Marginally resectable and unresectable soft tissue sarcomas (STS) remain a therapy challenge due to the lack of highly active treatment. The aim of the study was to identify a biomarker to predict the pathological response (PR) to preplanned treatment of these STSs.
Methods:
In the phase II clinical trial (NCT03651375), locally advanced STS patients received preoperative treatment with a combination of doxorubicin-ifosfamide chemotherapy and 5 × 5 Gy radiotherapy. PR to the treatment was classified using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group recommendations. We have chosen HIF-1α, CD163, CD68, CD34, CD105, and γH2AFX proteins, rendering different biological phenomena, for biomarker study.
Results:
Nineteen patients were enrolled and in four cases a good PR was reported. The high expression of HIF-1α before surgery showed a negative correlation with PR, which means a poor response to therapy. Furthermore, the samples after surgery had decreased expression of HIF-1α, which confirmed the correlation with PR. However, high expression of γH2AFX positively correlated with PR, which provides better PR. The high number of positive-staining TAMs and the high IMVD did not correlate with PR.
Conclusions:
HIF1α and γH2AFX could be potential biomarkers for PR prediction after neoadjuvant treatment in STS.
