The "old drug" dacarbazine as a second/third line chemotherapy in advanced soft tissue sarcomas

Invest New Drugs. 2008 Apr;26(2):175-81. doi: 10.1007/s10637-007-9086-z. Epub 2007 Sep 25.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the response rate, progression-free survival and median duration of response to dacarbazine as second/third-line chemotherapy for refractory soft tissue sarcomas. We studied 40 valuable patients with refractory soft tissue sarcomas and confirmed progressive disease (median age 54 years; range 24-73) treated between May 1997 and October 2005: 30 (75%) with metastases, and 23 (57.5%) with grade 3 disease. Dacarbazine was given as second-line chemotherapy to 29 patients (72.5%) every 21 days using three different schedules: dacarbazine 800 mg/m2 on day 1 (26 patients); dacarbazine 400 mg/m2 on days 1 and 2 (five patients); and dacarbazine 300 mg/m2 on days 1, 2 and 3 (nine patients). There were no complete responses, three (7.5%) partial responses and five (12.5%) cases of stable disease, for an overall disease control rate of 20%. Median progression-free survival was 2 months and median response duration 9 months. The 3- and 6-month progression-free rates were, respectively, 25% (SE 6.85%) and 20% (SE 6.32%). There were no cases of grade 3-4 hematological and non-hematological toxicity. In conclusion, our results suggest that second/third-line therapy with dacarbazine leads to satisfactory disease control in refractory soft tissue sarcomas; its activity seems to be comparable with other treatments, such as high dose ifosfamide or ecteinascidin-743, but it has a better toxicity profile.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / administration & dosage
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / adverse effects
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / therapeutic use*
  • Dacarbazine / administration & dosage
  • Dacarbazine / adverse effects
  • Dacarbazine / therapeutic use*
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Drug Administration Schedule
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Sarcoma / drug therapy*
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating
  • Dacarbazine