Trabectedin--a targeted chemotherapy?

摘要

Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of diseases that are commonly considered as one group when designing clinical trials. In soft-tissue sarcomas, chemotherapy yields response rates of up to 50%, with first-line combination chemotherapy. However, in the second-line setting, response rates are more typically 10-20%. These response rates are probably an indication of combining different sarcoma types in these studies. Increasingly, biological and clinical findings have indicated that soft-tissue sarcomas should not be considered as one homogeneous disease group. Furthermore, use of KIT as a target for gastrointestinal stromal tumours has revolutionised treatment. In this issue of The Lancet Oncology, Grosso and colleagues have assessed the efficacy of trabectedin (ecteinascidin-743) in the treatment of patients with myxoid liposarcomas, and provide another example of a sarcoma group with a distinguishing translocation, which might form the basis for targeted treatment.