Metastatic Soft Tissue Sarcoma Chemotherapy: An Opportunity for Personalized Medicine

Background: Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) includes biologically and histologically diverse mesenchymal tumors that are relatively chemotherapy-resistant compared with other sarcoma subtypes. Methods: The authors discuss the clinical challenges frequently encountered by medical oncologists and review the literature for predictive strategies to systematically approach chemotherapy decision making. Results: There are no clinically validated predictive tests for chemotherapeutic response or resistance in STS. Clinical features including histology, stage, and patient age are currently used to guide therapy decisions in STS. Conclusions: A method to predict response or resistance to chemotherapy, utilizing both targeted and conventional agents, would be beneficial in reducing toxicity and improving response rates for patients with STS and also in designing clinical trials for this disease.