A Phase II Trial of Preoperative Proton Therapy in Soft-tissue Sarcomas of the Extremities and Body Wall

Not Applicable

Completed

Interventions: Radiation: proton radiation
Procedure: surgery (wide local excision; limb preservation surgery)

Brief Summary: When treated with surgery alone, many soft-tissue sarcomas have a high chance of coming back. Radiation therapy is frequently used in addition to surgery to reduce the chances of the sarcoma coming back. However, radiation can have long-term side effects on the normal tissues surrounding the tumor, leading to problems such as swelling, scarring, and joint stiffness.

Recently, there have been advances in the way that radiation therapy can be given. Proton radiation therapy is one of those advances. With proton radiation, it is possible to give radiation over a smaller area surrounding the tumor, resulting in less radiation to the surrounding normal tissues.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether proton radiation decreases the long-term side effects of radiation on normal tissues and if smaller proton radiation fields reduce local recurrence compared to the larger radiation fields that have been used in prior studies.

Detailed Description: Data support preoperative radiotherapy as one of the standard options in the management of large or high-grade extremity soft tissue sarcomas (STS). The advantages of preoperative radiotherapy are lower doses and smaller radiation volumes; these may be used to effect improvement of long-term side effects and extremity function. Another potential advantage is assisting surgery through tumor shrinkage and reduction of tumor cell seeding. The disadvantage of preoperative radiation is the higher likelihood of postoperative wound complications, but in a prospective phase III trial these complications were found to be generally temporary and without significant effect on long term function.

Combined conservative surgery and radiotherapy has shown to achieve excellent local control in sarcoma patients following margin-negative surgery, but late radiation morbidity and reduced quality of life may result from adjuvant radiation. The dosimetric advantage of proton radiotherapy may translate into reduced acute and late effects due to improved normal-tissue sparing in the treatment of extremity and truncal STS. However, these potential advantages need to be validated in clinical trials. The investigators propose a phase II study to evaluate the effect of preoperative proton radiotherapy on the reduction of late radiation morbidity, patterns of failure, and impact of late radiation morbidity on general quality of life (QOL).

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Histologically proven primary soft tissue sarcoma of the upper extremity (including shoulder), lower extremity (including hip) or body trunk (excluding retroperitoneum).
No clinical evidence of distant metastatic disease
Evaluation by surgeon, with documentation that the tumor is resectable
ECOG performance status 0-1
For females of childbearing potential, a serum pregnancy test within 4 weeks prior to registration
Patient must practice adequate contraception
Adequate bone marrow function

Exclusion Criteria

Patients with sarcoma of the head, neck, intra-abdominal or retroperitoneal region, hand or foot
Histopathology demonstrating rhabdomyosarcoma, extraosseous primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), soft tissue Ewing's sarcoma, osteosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, angiosarcoma, aggressive fibromatosis, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans or chondrosarcoma
Clinical evidence of regional lymph node or distant metastatic disease
Prior invasive malignancy (except non-melanomatous skin cancer or early stage prostate cancer) unless disease free for a minimum of 3 years
Prior radiotherapy to the potential target anatomic region would result in overlap of radiation fields for current sarcoma
Pregnancy or women of childbearing potential and men who are sexually active and not willing/able to used medically acceptable forms of contraception

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Preoperative proton radiation	proton radiation	Patients will receive 50 Gray equivalents (GyE) in 25 fractions with proton therapy, followed by surgery 4-8 weeks after completion of radiation.
Preoperative proton radiation	surgery (wide local excision; limb preservation surgery)	Patients will receive 50 Gray equivalents (GyE) in 25 fractions with proton therapy, followed by surgery 4-8 weeks after completion of radiation.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Late Radiation Toxicities at 2 Years From the Start of Radiation Treatment	at 2 years from the start of radiation treatment	To report the number of participants with late radiation morbidity Late subcutaneous fibrosis and joint stiffness are assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (EORTC/RTOG) late toxicity scoring criteria below: Subcutaneous tissue: Grade 1(slight fibrosis; subcutaneous fat loss), Grade 2(moderate fibrosis: slight field contracture), Grade 3(severe fibrosis; field contracture \>10%), Grade 4(necrosis), Grade 0 (none) Joint stiffness: Grade 1(mild stiffness; slight range of motion loss), Grade 2(Moderate stiffness, pain, range of motion loss), Grade 3(Severe stiffness, pain, range of motion loss), Grade 4(necrosis; complete fixation), Grade 0 (none) Lymphedema is measured according to the criteria of Stern: Score 0(none), Score 1(Mild but definite swelling), Score 2(Moderate), Score 3(Severe, considerable swelling), Grade 4(Very severe (skin shiny \& tight)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Grade 3-5 Adverse Events at 6 Months From the Start of Radiation Treatment.	6 months	This study will utilize the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.0 for reporting of adverse events.
Report of Late Radiation Morbidity at 2 Years	at 2 years	To report the number of participants with late radiation morbidity using quality of life survey including physical, emotional, social/family and functional well-being.
Patterns of Failure at 6 Months From the Start of Radiation Treatment	6 months	Prespecified patterns of failure, including local failure, regional failure, distant failure, and death without disease progression at 6 months from the start of radiation treatment measured by CT or MRI scan
Patterns of Failure at 6 Months	6 months	Patterns of failure including local failure, distant failure, distant-disease-free survival, disease-free survival, overall survival rates, and second primary tumor at 6 month from the start of radiation treatment on CT or MRI scan.
Wound Complication Rates Infection, Dehiscence at 6 Months From the Start of Radiation Treatment.	6 months	Wound complications - Major wound complications, such as secondary operations, re-admissions, and/or invasive procedures for wound complication (deep wound packing and/or prolonged dressing changes) due to Infection, dehiscence.