Gemcitabine for the treatment of patients with osteosarcoma.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Patients with recurrent or refractory osteosarcoma are considered to have a very poor prognosis, and new regimens are needed to improve the prognosis in this setting. Gemcitabine, a nucleoside antimetabolite, is an analog of deoxycytidine which mainly inhibits DNA synthesis through interfering with DNA chain elongation and depleting deoxynucleotide stores, resulting in gemcitabine-induced cell death. Here we performed a systemic analysis to evaluate gemcitabine based chemotherapy as salvage treatment for patients with recurrent or refractory osteosarcoma.

METHODS:

Clinical studies evaluating the impact of gemcitabine based regimens on response and safety for patients with osteosarcoma were identified by using a predefined search strategy. Pooled response rates (RRs) of treatment were calculated.

RESULTS:

In gemcitabine based regimens, 4 clinical studies which included 66 patients with recurrent or refractory osteosarcoma were considered eligible for inclusion. Systemic analysis suggested that, in all patients, pooled RR was 12.1% (8/66) in gemcitabine based regimens. Major adverse effects were hematologic toxicity, including grade 3 or 4 anemia, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia in gemcitabine based treatment. No treatment related death occurred in gemcitabine based treatment.

CONCLUSION:

This systemic analysis suggests that gemcitabine based regimens are associated with mild activity with good tolerability in treating patients with recurrent or refractory osteosarcoma.

• Authors: Mei-Yang Wei, Yan-Feng Zhuang, Wan-Ming Wang
• Journal: Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP (Asian Pac J Cancer Prev) Vol. 15 Issue 17 Pg. 7159-62 ( 2014) ISSN: 2476-762X [Electronic] Thailand
• PMID: 25227807 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic
• Deoxycytidine
• Gemcitabine

Topics

• Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic (therapeutic use)
• Bone Neoplasms (drug therapy)
• Deoxycytidine (analogs & derivatives, therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Osteosarcoma (drug therapy)
• Treatment Outcome
• Gemcitabine