Efficacy of Sequential High-Dose Doxorubicin and Ifosfamide Compared With Standard-Dose Doxorubicin in Patients With Advanced Soft Tissue Sarcoma: An Open-Label Randomized Phase II Study of the Spanish Group for Research on Sarcomas

Purpose To assess the progression-free survival (PFS) and antitumor response to standard-dose doxorubicin compared with sequential dose-dense doxorubicin and ifosfamide in first-line treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma. Patients and Methods Patients with measurable advanced soft tissue sarcoma, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) < 2, between the ages 18 and 65 years, and with adequate bone marrow, liver, and renal function were entered in the study. The stratifications were: ECOG PS (0 v 1), location of metastases, and potentially resectable disease. Patients were randomly assigned to either doxorubicin 75 mg/m2 given as a bolus injection every 3 weeks for 6 cycles (arm A) or doxorubicin at 30 mg/m2 per day for 3 consecutive days once every 2 weeks for 3 cycles followed by ifosfamide at 12.5 g/m2 delivered by continuous infusion over 5 days once every 3 weeks for 3 cycles with filgastrim or pegfilgastrim support (arm B). Results Between December 2003 and September 2007...