Favorable clinical efficacy of cytotoxic chemotherapy in patients with progressive desmoid tumors: a retrospective real-world study

The real-world evidence about the efficacy of cytotoxic chemotherapy in desmoid tumors is still limited. We investigated the efficacy of chemotherapy in the treatment of recurrent or progressive desmoid tumors.

The patients with desmoid tumors who had received cytotoxic chemotherapy between November 2007 and June 2020 in two tertiary hospitals in Korea were reviewed.

A total of 25 patients were included in the analysis. The most common primary tumor site was the intra-abdominal or pelvic cavity (56%), followed by the trunk and abdominal wall (24%), extremities (16%), and head and neck (4%). Sixty percent of the patients had familial adenomatous polyposis and 76% received doxorubicin plus dacarbazine. The objective response rate and disease control rate was 64% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 40.7–82.8) and 96% (95% CI: 77.2–99.9), respectively. With the median follow-up time of 55 months (95% CI: 41.0–68.2), the 3-year PFS rate was 65% (95% CI: 41.1–80.5), and the 3-year OS rate was 89% (95% CI: 63.8–97.3). Grade 3 or 4 hematologic adverse events were reported in 14 patients, all of which were manageable.

Our real-world evidence suggests that doxorubicin-based cytotoxic chemotherapy can be an effective treatment option for recurrent and progressive desmoid tumors with respect to favorable clinical outcomes.