The Outcomes Of Adult Patients With Soft Tissue Sarcoma Receiving A Combination Therapy Of Gemcitabine And Docetaxel

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy, side effects and safety of gemcitabine combined with docetaxel in the treatment of adult patients with soft tissue sarcoma and to analyze the clinical and pathological factors that might affect the prognosis.Methods:All recruited patients received a regimen with GEM1000mg/m2infused within60min on day1and8and TXT75mg/m2infused within90min on day1,repeated every21days. The efficacy and side effects were evaluated after the patients finished2cycles of chemotherapy and further confirmed after4weeks if patient achieved complete or partial remission. The clinicopathological features including sex, age, ECOG, primary site, tumor size, pathological type, staging and metastatic status, were analyzed with both Kaplan-Meier plotting and multivariate Cox’s regression model.Results:Nineteen patients with soft tissue sarcoma were recruited, including12male and7female aged27-77with a median age of57years. One recurred with a relapse rate of33%among3patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy who had1.5,26and50months DFS, respectively. The median OS and PFS were15months and4months for other15patients with relapsed or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma. No cases had complete response,5cases (33%) achieved partial response,3cases (20%) remained stable disease and7cases (47%) had progressive disease. Total response rate and disease control rate were33%and53%, respectively. Univariate analysis indicated ECOG had impact on patients’ survival whereas sex, age, primary site, tumor size, pathological type, staging and metastatic status did not. Furthermore, Cox’s regression analysis didn’t elicit independent prognostic factor. The side effects were myelosuppression, GI discomforts, mucositis, fatigue, alopecia, drug eruption and mild hepatic and renal dysfunction. Most side effects were grade1-2. The severe side effects (over grade3) were leukocytopenia (32%), neutropenia (42%), thrombocytopenia (5%) and vomiting (5%) and all could be relieved by supportive care.Conclusion:The combination regimen of gemcitabine and docetaxel in patients with soft tissue sarcoma proved effective and well-tolerated. A prospective study with greater samples is needed to confirm the outcome.