Personalised management of alveolar soft part sarcoma: a promising phase 2 study

Large descending colon alveolar soft part sarcoma with ASPL-TFE3 fusion gene: Case report and review of the literature

INTRODUCTION

ASPS is a rare, soft tissue tumor which represents 0.2-1 % of soft tissue sarcomas. A characteristic nonreciprocal translocation is found in nearly all cases. The resulting ASPSCR1-TFE3 fusion gene is postulated to be involved in the pathogenesis of this tumor.

CASE REPORT

29 years-old female presented with abdominal pain for few months. MRI and CT revealed a large necrotic abdominopelvic mass, which is extra-uterine, extra-ovarian, and peritoneal nodules. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a large mass arising from the distal part of the descending colon involving the mesentery and the surrounding peritoneum. She underwent left colectomy with primary anastomosis, and resection of the involved adjacent peritoneal and mesenteric surface nodules. Histopathology revealed ASPS involving the outer serosal layer of the large bowel wall negative margins. It also involved the resected mesenteric fat, greater omentum, and peritoneum. No further treatment was received as the patient traveled to home country.

DISCUSSION

The treatment of early-stage ASPS involves radical surgical excision of the primary tumor. Traditionally, patients with advanced ASPS have limited therapeutic options because of the resistance of the tumor to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, however, it is a targetable sarcoma. The response rate of metastatic ASPS to targeted therapy is clinically meaningful, and comparable to that of first-line chemotherapy. Most patients who received targeted therapy achieved disease control. Patients who had refractory or progressive disease to one targeted agent demonstrated a response to other agents. More randomized trials are warranted to expand treatment options and compare them to standard care regimens.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, while radical surgical excision remains crucial for early-stage ASPS, the landscape for advanced cases is evolving with targeted therapies showing promising results. However, further randomized trials are necessary to broaden the treatment options available and to evaluate these new therapies against existing standard care regimens. This ongoing research is vital to improving outcomes for patients with ASPS and tailoring more effective treatment strategies.

Advances in treatment of alveolar soft part sarcoma: an updated review

Alveolar soft part sarcoma is a rare neoplasm of uncertain histogenesis that belongs to a newly defined category of ultra-rare sarcomas. The neoplasm is characterized by a specific chromosomal translocation, der (17) t(X; 17)(p11.2;q25), that results in ASPSCR1-TFE3 gene fusion. The natural history of alveolar soft part sarcoma describes indolent behaviour with slow progression in deep soft tissues of the extremities, trunk and head/neck in adolescents and young adults. A high rate of detection of distant metastasis at presentation has been reported, and the most common metastatic sites in decreasing order of frequency are the lung, bone and brain. Complete surgical resection remains the standard treatment strategy, whereas radiotherapy is indicated for patients with inadequate surgical margins or unresectable tumours. Although alveolar soft part sarcoma is refractory to conventional doxorubicin-based chemotherapy, monotherapy or combination therapy using tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors have provided antitumor activity and emerged as new treatment strategies. This article provides an overview of the current understanding of this ultra-rare sarcoma and recent advancements in treatments according to the clinical stage of alveolar soft part sarcoma.

Alveolar soft part sarcoma: progress toward improvement in survival? A population-based study

Background

Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare histological subtype of soft-tissue sarcoma, which remains refractory to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. We aimed to characterize ASPS and investigate whether the oncological outcome has improved over the past decade.

Methods

One hundred and twenty patients with newly diagnosed ASPS from 2006 to 2017, identified from the Bone and Soft-Tissue Tumor Registry in Japan, were analyzed retrospectively.

Results

The study cohort comprised 34 (28%) patients with localized ASPS and 86 (72%) with metastatic disease at presentation. The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) was 68% for all patients and 86% and 62% for localized and metastatic disease, respectively (p = 0.019). Metastasis at presentation was the only adverse prognostic factor for DSS (hazard ratio [HR]: 7.65; p = 0.048). Patients who were > 25 years (80%; p = 0.023), had deep-seated tumors (75%; p = 0.002), and tumors > 5 cm (5–10 cm, 81%; > 10 cm, 81%; p < 0.001) were more likely to have metastases at presentation. In patients with localized ASPS, adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy did not affect survival, and 13 patients (45%) developed distant metastases in the lung (n = 12, 92%) and brain (n = 2, 15%). In patients with metastatic ASPS (lung, n = 85 [99%]; bone, n = 12 [14%]; and brain n = 9 [11%]), surgery for the primary or metastatic site did not affect survival. Prolonged survival was seen in patients who received pazopanib treatment (p = 0.045), but not in those who received doxorubicin-based cytotoxic chemotherapy. Overall, improved DSS for metastatic ASPS has been observed since 2012 (5-year DSS, from 58 to 65%) when pazopanib was approved for advanced diseases, although without a statistically significant difference (p = 0.117).

Conclusion

The national study confirmed a unique feature of ASPS with frequent metastasis to the lung and brain but an indolent clinical course. An overall trend toward prolonged survival after the introduction of targeted therapy encourages continuous efforts to develop novel therapeutic options for this therapeutically resistant soft-tissue sarcoma.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09968-5.