Recent advances in the understanding and management of liposarcoma

Candace L Haddox; Richard F Riedel

doi:10.12703/r/10-1

Recent advances in the understanding and management of liposarcoma

Fac Rev. 2021 Jan 4:10:1. doi: 10.12703/r/10-1. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Candace L Haddox¹, Richard F Riedel^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Medical Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
² Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC, USA.

PMID: 33659920
PMCID: PMC7894267
DOI: 10.12703/r/10-1

Abstract

Liposarcomas are a common subfamily of soft tissue sarcoma with several subtypes recognized by the World Health Organization: atypical lipomatous tumors (ALT)/well-differentiated liposarcoma (WDLPS), dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS), myxoid liposarcoma (MLPS), pleomorphic liposarcoma (PLPS), and myxoid pleomorphic liposarcoma (MPLPS). Despite shared adipocytic features among liposarcomas, the clinical approach to each subtype differs based on histology, location, clinical behavior, and specific oncogenic drivers. In this review, we highlight subtype-specific molecular features with the potential to generate novel therapies. We discuss recent clinical trials investigating the use of preoperative radiation therapy for retroperitoneal liposarcoma, chemotherapy, small molecule inhibitors, and innovative immunotherapy approaches and describe how we incorporate these advancements into the management of liposarcoma.

Keywords: Clinical Trials; Dedifferentiated; Immunotherapy; Liposarcoma; Myxoid/Round cell; Pleomorphic; Targeted therapy; Well-differentiated.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The authors declare that no grants were involved in supporting this work.