Ewing sarcoma: prognostic criteria, outcomes and future treatment

Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2008 Apr;8(4):617-24. doi: 10.1586/14737140.8.4.617.

Abstract

Ewing sarcoma (EWS) is a bone tumor occurring primarily in adolescence and young adulthood. Multi-institutional clinical trials have improved the outcome for patients with nonmetastatic EWS, but not with metastatic EWS. Furthermore, although 30% of EWS recur, multi-institutional studies have not been completed for this high-risk group. Planning such studies has been hampered by both the lack of novel therapies and the inability to incorporate the biology of EWS. While the importance and detail of the EWS-FLI-1 translocation between chromosomes 11 and 22 are described, these have not yet led to new drug development for this orphan tumor. However, recent evidence supporting novel cytotoxic therapy, antiangiogenic therapy, and receptor-targeted therapy provides reason for optimism for patients with high-risk disease.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / administration & dosage
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Bone Neoplasms* / diagnosis
  • Bone Neoplasms* / diagnostic imaging
  • Bone Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • Humans
  • Prognosis
  • Radiography
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1 / biosynthesis
  • Risk Factors
  • Sarcoma, Ewing* / diagnosis
  • Sarcoma, Ewing* / diagnostic imaging
  • Sarcoma, Ewing* / drug therapy
  • Survival Rate

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Receptor, IGF Type 1