In this interview, Martee Hensley, MD, a medical oncologist practicing at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, commented on the introduction of trabectedin as a treatment alternative for women with uterine leiomyosarcoma. Dr Hensley described that trabectedin is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcomas, including liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma subtypes, who have previously received anthracycline-based chemotherapy.
Off protocol, Dr Hensley predicted that usage of trabectedin for uterine leiomyosarcoma is most appropriate in the third- or fourth-line settings. Other available treatments for patients with this diagnosis who relapse after anthracycline-based chemotherapy include the combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel (GT), as well as pazopanib, an orally administered tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Dr Hensley recalled that GT has demonstrated partial or complete responses in approximately 30% of patients with relapsed uterine leiomyosarcoma. For patients who have a high burden of disease, this outcome was described as “very reasonable,” such that trabectedin is more relevant in the third- and later-line settings.
Hensley M. www.onclive.com/conference-coverage/sgo-2016/martee-hensley-on-trabectedin-as-a-treatment-for-uterine-leiomyosarcoma. OncLive. Published Online: Monday, March 21, 2016.