Phase II Study of Eribulin plus Pembrolizumab in Metastatic Soft Tissue Sarcomas: Clinical Outcomes and Biological Correlates
The research from a paper titled “Phase II Study of Eribulin plus Pembrolizumab in Metastatic Soft Tissue Sarcomas: Clinical Outcomes and Biological Correlates.” In this phase II trial, the researchers investigate the safety and efficacy of a chemotherapy called eribulin in combination with an immunotherapy called pembrolizumab, which releases the “brakes” that tumors put on a patient’s immune system. Eribulin inhibits the cancer cells’ ability to divide, causing the tumor cells to die, and is currently approved for the treatment of liposarcomas. The study includes patients with leiomyosarcoma (LMS), liposarcoma (LPS), or other sarcoma subtypes in which anti-PD1 therapy has shown benefit, including undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS). The combination met the goal of greater than 60% 12-week progression-free survival in patients with LPS and was well-tolerated, but unfortunately did not meet that goal in the other subtypes. These results warrant further studies to determine if the combination is better than either drug alone for patients with LPS.