Background

Despite effective local therapy with surgery and radiotherapy (RT), ~50 % of patients with high-grade soft tissue sarcoma (STS) will relapse and die of disease. Since experimental data suggest a significant synergistic effect when antiangiogenic targeted therapies such as sorafenib are combined with RT, we chose to evaluate preoperative combined modality sorafenib and conformal RT in a phase I/II trial among patients with extremity STS amenable to treatment with curative intent.

Methods

For the phase I trial, eight patients with intermediate- or high-grade STS >5 cm in maximal dimension or low-grade STS >8 cm in maximal dimension received concomitant sorafenib (dose escalation cohort 1:200 twice daily, cohort 2:200/400 daily) and preoperative RT (50 Gy in 25 fractions). Sorafenib was continued during the entire period of RT as tolerated. Surgical resection was completed 4-6 weeks following completion of neoadjuvant sorafenib/RT. Three sorafenib dose levels were planned. Primary endpoints of the phase I trial were maximal tolerated dose and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT).

Results

Eight patients were enrolled in the phase I (five females, median age 44 years, two high-grade pleomorphic, two myxoid/round cell liposarcoma, four other). Median tumor size was 16 cm (range 8-29), and all tumors were located in the lower extremity. Two of five patients treated at dose level 2 developed DLT consisting of grade 3 rash not tolerating drug reintroduction. Other grade 3 side effects included anemia, perirectal abscess, and supraventricular tachycardia. Radiation toxicity (grade 1 or 2 dermatitis; N = 8) and post-surgical complications (three grade 3 wound complications) were comparable to historical controls and other series of preoperative RT monotherapy. Complete pathologic reponse (≥95 % tumor necrosis) was observed in three patients (38 %).

Conclusion

Neoadjuvant sorafenib in combination with RT is tolerable and appears to demonstrate activity in locally advanced extremity STS. Further study to determine efficacy at dose level 1 is warranted. (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00805727).

Background

Genetic abnormalities in cell cycle control are common in malignant melanoma. UCN-01 (7-hydroxystaurosporine) is an investigational agent that exhibits antitumor activity by perturbing the cancer cell cycle. A patient with advanced melanoma experienced a partial response in a phase I trial of single agent UCN-01. We sought to determine the activity of UCN-01 against refractory metastatic melanoma in a phase II study. Patients and methods Patients with advanced melanoma received UCN-01 at 90 mg/m(2) over 3 h on cycle 1, reduced to 45 mg/m(2) over 3 h for subsequent cycles, every 21 days. Primary endpoint was tumor response. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). A two-stage (17 + 16), single arm phase II design was employed. A true response rate of ≥ 20% (i.e., at least one responder in the first stage, or at least four responders overall) was to be considered promising for further development of UCN-01 in this setting. Results Seventeen patients were accrued in the first stage. One patient was inevaluable for response. Four (24%) patients had stable disease, and 12 (71%) had disease progression. As there were no responders in the first stage, the study was closed to further accrual. Median PFS was 1.3 months (95% CI, 1.2-3.0) while median OS was 7.3 months (95% CI, 3.4-18.4). One-year and two year OS rates were 41% and 12%, respectively. A median of two cycles were delivered (range, 1-18). Grade 3 treatment-related toxicities include hyperglycemia (N = 2), fatigue (N = 1), and diarrhea (N = 1). One patient experienced grade 4 creatinine elevation and grade 4 anemia possibly due to UCN-01. No dose modification was required as these patients had disease progression. Conclusion Although well tolerated, UCN-01 as a single agent did not have sufficient clinical activity to warrant further study in refractory melanoma.