Various neoadjuvant approaches have been evaluated for the treatment of locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas. This retrospective study describes a uniquely modified version of the Eilber regimen developed at University of Chicago.

Thirty-four patients (28 stage III and 6 stage IV) patients with locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas of an extremity were treated between 1995 and 2008. All patients received preoperative therapy including ifosfamide (2.5 g/m²/day × 5 days) with concurrent radiation (28 Gy in 3.5 Gy daily fractions), sandwiched between various chemotherapy regimens. Postoperatively, 47% received further adjuvant chemotherapy.

Most tumors (94%) were grade 3 and all were T2b, with a median size of 10.3 cm. Wide excision was performed in 29 patients (85%), and 5 required amputation. Of the resected tumor specimens, 50% exhibited high (≥90%) treatment-induced necrosis and 11.8% had a complete pathologic response. Surgical margins were negative in all patients. The 5-year survival was 42.3% for all patients and 45.2% for stage III patients. For limb-preservation patients, the 5-year local control was 89.0% and reoperation was required for wound complications in 17.2%. The 5-year freedom from distant metastasis (FFDM) was 53.4% (stage IV patients excluded), and FFDM was superior if treatment-induced tumor necrosis was ≥90% (84.6% vs. 19.9%, p=0.02).

This well-tolerated concurrent chemoradiotherapy approach yields excellent rates of limb preservation and local control. The resulting treatment-induced necrosis rates are predictive of subsequent metastatic risk, and this information may provide an opportunity to guide postoperative systemic therapies.