Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2006 Feb;6(2):225-37.
The role of high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell
transplantation for pediatric bone and soft tissue sarcomas.
Ek ET, Choong PF.
Department of Orthopedics, St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne,
Australia. eugene_ek@msn.com
The prognosis for children with bone and soft tissue sarcomas has
significantly improved since the advent of effective multiagent
chemotherapy, aggressive surgery for local disease and more precise
delivery of radiotherapy doses. However, in a small proportion of
patients that present with high-risk disease, long-term outcome has not
substantially increased, with disease-free survival rates still in the
order of 20-30%. It is therefore clear that novel therapies are needed
for children with these tumors. Based on the highly chemosensitive
nature of the majority of pediatric sarcomas, several small studies
have been conducted to investigate the potential role of high-dose
chemotherapy followed by hematopoietic stem cell reconstitution. This
review will provide an overview of the current literature concerning
the use of high-dose therapy with stem cell transplantation for the
three main pediatric sarcomas–Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and
osteosarcoma.
PMID: 16445375 [PubMed – in process]