Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective analysis was to assess efficacy and tolerability of trabectedin in soft tissue sarcoma (STS) in the routine clinical setting.
Patients and methods: Efficacy and safety data of trabectedin were retrospectively evaluated in patients with advanced STS who had started treatment with trabectedin at six institutions in Austria between January 2008 and May 2012.
Results: Data of 101 adult patients were included in the present analysis. Patients had a median age of 56 years; 59 and 41% received trabectedin as ≤2nd and ≥3rd chemotherapy line for advanced disease, respectively. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 3.9 and 11.6 months. Median PFS and OS were different in patients who received trabectedin as ≤2nd- or ≥3rd-line treatment: median PFS was 3.9 versus 3.6 months and OS was 15.2 versus 24.8 months, respectively. The extent and severity of trabectedin-induced toxicity were low and manageable.
Conclusions: The activity and tolerability of trabectedin in the routine clinical setting is comparable to outcomes reported in phase II trials already published. Regardless of whether trabectedin was given earlier or later in the course of disease, outcomes did not differ in the cohort of analysed patients.