Background: Pazopanib is a multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of patients with selective subtypes of advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS) who have previously received standard chemotherapy including anthracyclines. Data on the efficacy in vascular sarcomas are limited. The main objective of this study was to investigate the activity of pazopanib in vascular sarcomas. Patients and methods: A retrospective study of patients with advanced vascular sarcomas, including angiosarcoma (AS), epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HE) and intimal sarcoma (IS) treated with pazopanib in real life practice at EORTC centers as well as patients treated within the EORTC phase II and III clinical trials (62043/62072) was performed. Patient and tumor characteristics were collected. Response was assessed according to RECIST 1.1. and survival analysis was performed. Results: Fifty-two patients were identified, 40 (76.9%), 10 (19.2%) and two (3.8%) with AS, HE and IS, respectively. The response rate was eight (20%), two (20%) and two (100%) in the AS, HE and IS subtypes, respectively. There was no significant difference in response rate between cutaneous and non-cutaneous AS and similarly between radiation-associated and non-radiation-associated AS. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and median overall survival (OS; from commencing pazopanib) were three months (95% CI 2.1–4.4) and 9.9 months (95% CI 6.5–11.3) in AS, respectively. Conclusion: The activity of pazopanib in AS is comparable to its reported activity in other STS subtypes. In this study, the activity of pazopanib was similar in cutaneous/non-cutaneous and in radiation/non-radiation-associated AS. In addition, pazopanib showed promising activity in HE and IS, worthy of further evaluation.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating lung disease with poor survival. There is an urgent need to better diagnose and monitor IPF patients as new treatments which slow down disease progression are now available. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is easily and non-invasively collected, but analysis of potential biomarkers is difficult due to low concentrations and methodological limitations. We used a non-targeted metabolomics approach to identify discriminatory metabolic profiles that distinguish IPF patients from healthy controls. For the pilot study set, we collected EBC from 10 stable IPF patients and 10 lung healthy controls. Samples were analyzed by ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry in positive and negative ion mode. After data processing and statistical analysis, 58 metabolites were found to be discriminative between IPF patients and controls in the positive ion mode. One metabolite candidate m / z = 341.3514 at a retention time of 9.94 min was 2.5-fold up-regulated in IPF patients compared to healthy controls and validated in a second set of eight IPF patients and healthy controls. The identity of this metabolic feature still remains elusive. Our preliminary results identified a distinguished EBC profile of IPF patients compared to controls. Although these results need to be confirmed in additional individuals, EBC sampling for diagnosis and/or monitoring of IPF patients is a promising new method, which should be further explored. The EBC samples have been obtained within the clinical trial NCT02173145 at baseline.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have revolutionized the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) although most patients develop resistance to first and second-line therapies. Regorafenib, an oral multi-targeted TKI, has demonstrated benefit in previously treated GIST patients. We assessed safety and activity of regorafenib in patients treated within the Managed Access Program (MAP). All consecutive patients with advanced GIST who had progressed on or were intolerant to imatinib and sunitinib were recruited from the Royal Marsden and University College Hospitals. We retrospectively reviewed the data for response, toxicity, treatment duration and survival. Response was assessed by RECIST and Choi criteria. Toxicity was graded according to CTCAE v4.0 criteria. 20 patients were included in the MAP in the UK between 3/2013 and 9/2013. Median age was 68 (range 45–87), 65% of patients were male. Performance Status was 0–1 for 18 patients (90%), 2 for 2 patients (10%). The median treatment duration was 9.25 months (range 0.1-15.33). 18 patients were assessable for response and all patients attained a best response of at least stable disease. At a median follow-up of 12.6 months, there were 2 partial responses (11%) by RECIST and 7 partial responses (39%) according to Choi criteria. 7 patients remain on regorafenib. 3 patients discontinued treatment due to unacceptable adverse events; fistulation, myalgia and fatigue. 10 (50%) patients had grade 3 toxicities and 11 (55%) patients required a dose reduction. Median PFS was 9.4 months (95% Cl: 6.2-not calculable) and median OS was 12.2 months (95% Cl: 10.5-not calculable). Notably, prolonged stable disease was seen in 1 patient with exon 9 mutation and 1 patient with PDGFR D842V mutation. These data demonstrate encouraging activity and tolerability of regorafenib in routine clinical practice. The documented adverse events are in line with previous trial data.

Background: Soft tissue and bone sarcomas are heterogeneous groups of malignant tumors. The shift in their management, with an emphasis on limb salvage, has deemed the involvement of reconstructive surgeons an integral part of their multidisciplinary treatment. We present our experience with free and pedicled flaps in the reconstruction of sarcomas at a tertiary referral university hospital and major sarcoma center. Materials and Methods: All patients undergoing flap reconstruction after sarcoma resection over a 5-year period have been included in the study. Patient-related data and postoperative complications were collected retrospectively, ensuring a minimum follow-up of 3 years. Results: A total of 90 patients underwent treatment with 26 free flaps and 64 pedicled flaps. Postoperative complications occurred in 37.7% of patients, and the flap failure rate was 4.4%. Diabetes, alcohol consumption and male gender were associated with increased early necrosis of the flap. Preoperative chemotherapy significantly increased the occurrence of early infection and late dehiscence, while preoperative radiotherapy was associated with a higher incidence of lymphedema. Intraoperative radiotherapy was associated with late seromas and lymphedema. Conclusions: Reconstructive surgery with either pedicled or free flaps is reliable, but it can be demanding in the setting of sarcoma surgery. A higher complication rate is to be expected with neoadjuvant therapy and with certain comorbidities.