Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Retroperitoneal Sarcoma: A National Cohort Study

Management of retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) remains controversial, with the mainstay of treatment being surgery. While neoadjuvant radiation demonstrated no improvement in recurrence-free survival in a prospective randomized trial (STRASS), the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) remains unknown and is the subject of ongoing study (STRASS2).

Patients who underwent surgical resection of high-grade RP leiomyosarcoma (LMS) or dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLS) were identified from the National Cancer Database (2006-2019). Predictors of NCT were analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Differences in 5-year survival were examined using the Kaplan-Meier (KM) method and by Cox proportional hazard modeling.

A total of 2656 patients met inclusion criteria. Fifty-seven percent of patients had DDLS and 43.5% had LMS. Six percent of patients underwent NCT. Patients who received NCT were younger (median age 60 vs 64 years, p < 0.001) and more likely to have LMS (OR 1.4, p = 0.04). In comparing NCT with no-NCT patients, there was no difference in 5-year overall survival (OS) on KM analysis (57.3% vs 52.8%, p = 0.38), nor was any difference seen after propensity matching (54.9% vs 49.1%, p = 0.48, N = 144 per group). When stratified by histology, there was no difference in OS based on receipt of NCT (LMS: 59.8% for NCT group, 56.6% for no-NCT, p = 0.34; DDLS: 54.2% for NCT group, 50.1% for no-NCT, p = 0.99).

In patients undergoing surgical resection of RP LMS or DDLS, NCT does not appear to confer an OS advantage. Prospective randomized data from STRASS2 will confirm or refute these retrospective data.