Chemotherapy and hormone therapy for uterine sarcomas

Uterine sarcomas are relatively rare mesenchymal malignant neoplasms with poor prognosis, accounting for 8% of all uterine malignant neoplasms. There are only a few moderately active cytotoxic agents for this entity, and therefore, chemotherapy for uterine sarcomas is palliative in most cases. According to traditional classification systems, uterine sarcomas encompass carcinosarcoma (CS), leiomyosarcoma (LMS), and endometrial stromal cell sarcoma (ESS). For carcinosarcoma, ifosfamide, cisplatin, and paclitaxel are reported to be moderately effective single agents. The combination of ifosfamide and cisplatin appeared to improve progression-free survival, but the severe toxicity it induced was not negligible. Paclitaxel and ifosfamide were the only chemotherapy regimen which slightly improved both progression-free and overall survival. For leiomyosarcoma and undifferentiated endometrial sarcoma (formerly named high-grade ESS), doxorubicin, ifosfamide, and gemcitabine are moderately effective single agents. There are several reports showing the effectiveness of gemcitabine plus docetaxel. For endometrial stromal sarcoma (formerly named low-grade ESS), progestins and aromatase inhibitors have been proven beneficial.