Summary

Background:

Trabectedin is a marine-derived chemotherapy, which has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for use in anthracycline-resistant advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS), especially liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma (L-sarcomas).

Objectives:

To describe our 10 year real-life experience with trabectedin regarding safety and efficacy in a cohort of 86 patients.

Methods:

In our study cohort, 46.51% were diagnosed with liposarcoma and 43.02% with leiomyosarcoma. A total of 703 cycles of trabectedin were given, with a median of five cycles per patient (range 1–59). Median overall survival was 13.5 months for the whole cohort, 11 months for liposarcoma patients (range 1–63), and 15 months for leiomyosarcoma patients (range 1–35).

Results:

There was no statistically significant difference in progression free survival when stratified according to previous treatment lines given. Trabectedin exhibited a favorable safety profile, with only 22% requiring dose reductions. Grade 3 and higher toxicity was noted in 25% of the patients, mostly due to myelosuppression. There were no treatment-related deaths.

Conclusions:

Trabectedin is a safe and effective drug for treating advanced STS. Our results reflect real-life data with patients receiving the drug as a third and even fourth line of treatment, or with a suboptimal performance status, yet achieving impressive clinical benefit rates and survival.