A trial looking at axitinib for advanced soft tissue sarcoma (Axi-STS)

This trial was for people with a number of different types of soft tissue sarcoma, including:

• angiosarcoma
• leiomyosarcoma
• synovial sarcoma

They all had cancer that had spread to their lymph nodes or to another part of the body. They took axitinib tablets twice a day, for up to 2 years. 

Results
A total of 145 people joined this trial. They had a number of different types of sarcoma:

• 38 people had angiosarcoma
• 37 people had leiomyosarcoma
• 36 people had synovial sarcoma
• 34 people had other types of sarcoma

The research team were able to look at how well treatment was working at 3 months for 121 people. The results showed that the sarcoma had:

• got smaller in 6 people (5%)
• stayed the same in 54 people (45%)
• continued to grow in 61 people (50%)

They also looked at how well treatment was working after a year for 136 people. The results showed that:

• the sarcoma had not grown in 16 people (12%)
• 54 people (40%) were living

These results are slightly better than you might see with some other treatment options.

Side effects
Everyone taking part had at least one side effect. Many of these were mild or didn’t last long. But some people had a more serious side effect.

The most common side effects were:

• tiredness
• raised blood pressure
• sore or inflamed mouth or bowel lining
• feeling sick
• shortness of breath
• lack of appetite

Conclusion
The trial team concluded that axitinib could help stop advanced sarcoma growing in some people. They also concluded that it didn’t cause too many side effects.

Where this information comes from    
We have based this summary on information from the research team. As far as we are aware, the information they sent us has not been reviewed independently (peer reviewed ) or published in a medical journal yet. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.