What is the best chemo for leiomyosarcoma?

What is the best chemo for leiomyosarcoma?

Adriamycin (Doxorubicin) and ifosfamide are the chemotherapy drugs that are currently used to treat leiomyosarcoma. They work well for some people, but not everyone. Doctors think that the drugs gemcitabine and docetaxel (Taxotere) may be better.

How effective is gemcitabine and docetaxel?

With regard to drug administration, the 1-week regimen, in which docetaxel was administered twice at intervals of 1 week (gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2, D1, D8; docetaxel 35 mg/m2, D1, D8), resulted in a higher response rate of 19% (20/104), while the response rate was 11.7% (13/111) for the 3-week regimen, where docetaxel …

What is the best treatment for leiomyosarcoma?

In general, treatments for leiomyosarcoma may include:

• Surgery. The goal of surgery is to remove all of the leiomyosarcoma.
• Radiation therapy. Radiation therapy uses powerful energy beams, such as X-rays and protons, to kill cancer cells.
• Chemotherapy.
• Targeted drug therapy.

Does chemo cure leiomyosarcoma?

As mentioned, chemotherapy is not the preferred primary treatment for leiomyosarcoma. Ideally, if you are diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma you will receive surgery to remove the tumors, with a wide surgical margin to prevent local recurrence.

Can Stage 4 leiomyosarcoma be cured?

Stage IV sarcomas are rarely curable. But some patients may be cured if the main (primary) tumor and all of the areas of cancer spread (metastases) can be removed by surgery. The best success rate is when it has spread only to the lungs.

How long can you live with metastatic leiomyosarcoma?

40 out of every 100 people (40%) with leiomyosarcoma of the trunk survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis. Around 40 out of every 100 people (around 40%) with leiomyosarcoma of the digestive system survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.

What is gemcitabine and docetaxel?

The anticancer agents gemcitabine and docetaxel are used to treat various malignant tumours, including non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer. Combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and docetaxel (GD) has been shown to be effective for metastatic leiomyosarcoma and other STS [5,6,7,8,9,10].

What are the side effects of gemcitabine?

Side Effects

• Black, tarry stools.
• bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet.
• blood in the urine or stools.
• chest pain.
• cloudy urine.
• coughing up blood.
• difficult or labored breathing.
• difficulty in moving.

Does anyone survive leiomyosarcoma?

95 out of every 100 people (95%) with leiomyosarcoma of the skin survive their cancer for 5 years or more after diagnosis. Around 70 out of every 100 people (around 70%) with leiomyosarcoma of the limbs survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.

What is the life expectancy of someone with leiomyosarcoma?

Leiomyosarcoma

How quickly does leiomyosarcoma spread?

How fast does leiomyosarcoma grow? Leiomyosarcoma is aggressive. It grows quickly and can double in size in as little as one month. For this reason, prompt treatment is necessary.

What is a leiomyosarcoma?

What is leiomyosarcoma? Leiomyosarcoma, or LMS, is a type of rare cancer that grows in the smooth muscles. The smooth muscles are in the hollow organs of the body, including the intestines, stomach, bladder, and blood vessels. In females, there is also smooth muscle in the uterus.

What is the success rate of gemcitabine?

Since 1997, gemcitabine therapy has been the standard first-line treatment for patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. Among patients with metastatic disease, the 5-year survival rate is only 2%,1 and 1-year survival rates of 17 to 23% have been reported with gemcitabine.

How many cycles of gemcitabine can you have?

You usually have between 4 to 6 cycles of treatment taking from 3 to 6 months. You have gemcitabine as a drip into your bloodstream over 30 minutes.

Can you live a long life with leiomyosarcoma?

Is leiomyosarcoma a terminal?

Can leiomyosarcoma be cured? Currently, there is no cure for leiomyosarcoma. The chance for remission is best if the tumor is low grade and is diagnosed at an early stage, but leiomyosarcoma is an aggressive cancer that is often diagnosed at later stages, when it has spread to other parts of the body.

How fast can leiomyosarcoma spread?

It can grow fast and may even double in size in as little as four weeks. The treatment needs to be initiated as soon as possible after its diagnosis. Even after the treatment, there are high chances that this type of cancer will recur. The signs and symptoms of leiomyosarcoma are nonspecific.

How toxic is gemcitabine?

Gemcitabine is associated with a wide spectrum of lung toxicities, ranging from dyspnea 25% of patients to severe pulmonary toxicity in up to 5% of patients.

Is gemcitabine well tolerated?

This integrated database confirmed that gemcitabine is well tolerated. Its haematological toxicity was mild and short lasting. The low incidence of infection was correspondingly low. Transaminase elevations occurred frequently, but they were usually mild and rarely dose-limiting.

Do you lose hair with gemcitabine?

Hair loss. On its own, gemcitabine can cause hair thinning. However, when it’s given with carboplatin or paclitaxel, most people will lose all their hair, including eyebrows, eyelashes and body hair. Scalp cooling may prevent or lessen hair loss.

Can you live 20 years with sarcoma?

Around 65 out of every 100 people (around 65%) with synovial sarcoma in the limbs survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed. Almost 40 out of every 100 people (almost 40%) with synovial sarcoma in the trunk of the body survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they are diagnosed.

How long do gemcitabine side effects last?

Nausea and vomiting may occur after your treatment and may last for 24 hours.

Does gemcitabine cause lung problems?

Although up to 25% of patients treated with gemcitabine may develop dyspnea, severe pulmonary adverse events remain rare and include mainly diffuse alveolar damage, acute respiratory distress syndrome, interstitial pneumonitis, or noncardiogenic pulmonary edema requiring steroid therapy.

Is sarcoma always terminal?

A sarcoma is considered stage IV when it has spread to distant parts of the body. Stage IV sarcomas are rarely curable. But some patients may be cured if the main (primary) tumor and all of the areas of cancer spread (metastases) can be removed by surgery.

Can you survive leiomyosarcoma?

When LMS is identified early and is removed by surgery, prognosis is good and full recovery is likely. When LMS is already large or has spread to other parts of the body, treatment is more difficult and the prognosis is not as good.