The trial team found that doxorubicin should remain as the standard first treatment for people with advanced soft tissue sarcoma.
This phase 3 trial recruited 257 people. It was a randomised trial. Those taking part were put into 1 of 2 treatment groups.
- 129 people had doxorubicin
- 128 people had gemcitabine and docetaxel
Results
The main aim of the trial was to find out how many people were alive and had no sign of sarcoma 6 months after finishing treatment. They found there was no difference between the 2 groups.
The team then looked at the overall average length of time people lived after an average follow up of 22 months. They found that it was:
- just under 73 ½ weeks for those who had doxorubicin
- just under 67 ½ weeks for those who had gemcitabine and docetaxel
The team also looked at how well the treatment worked.
No sign of the cancer (complete response)
There:
- were 2 people in the doxorubicin group
- was no one in the gemcitabine and docetaxel group
Sarcoma had shrunk (partial response)
There were:
- 23 people in the doxorubicin group
- 26 people in the gemcitabine and docetaxel group
Sarcoma had stayed the same (stable disease)
There were:
- 60 people in the doxorubicin group
- 50 people in the gemcitabine and docetaxel group
Sarcoma continued to grow (progressive disease)
There were:
- 25 people in the doxorubicin group
- 27 people in the gemcitabine and docetaxel group
Number of people whose results the team couldn’t get
There were:
- 19 in the doxorubicin group
- 26 in the gemcitabine and docetaxel group
Side effects
The most common side effects in each group were:
- a drop in blood cells including a drop in white blood cells with a high temperature (febrile neutropenia)
- loss of hair
- tiredness (fatigue)
- feeling sick or being sick
- sore mouth
- pain
- loss of appetite
- diarrhoea or constipation
Overall people who had gemcitabine and docetaxel had more side effects than those who had doxorubicin.
Conclusion
The trial team concluded that doxorubicin should remain as the first choice of treatment for people with advanced sarcoma. Because although gemcitabine and docetaxel worked just as well there were more side effects. And this could have a big impact on people’s
quality of life 
.
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (
peer reviewed 
) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.