Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation following high-dose chemotherapy for non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas: a Cochrane systematic review*

OBJECTIVES: We conducted a systematic review to compare the efficacy and adverse events of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) following high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) versus standard-dose chemotherapy (SDCT) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-rhabdomyosarcoma soft tissue sarcomas (NRSTS). SETTING: Patients were observed in hospital units specialised for cancer therapy. PARTICIPANTS: The review evaluated 294 patients with 19 different subtypes of malignant NRSTS. The patients had a median age between 10 and 46 years (range 2–65) and were mostly men. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURE: The planned and measured primary outcomes were overall survival and treatment-related mortality. The planned and measured secondary outcomes were progression-free survival, grade 3–4 non-haematological toxicity and secondary neoplasia. Other secondary outcomes including disease-free survival, event-free survival and health-related quality of life were not reported. RESULTS: We included 62 studies reporting on 294 transplanted patients. We identified 1 randomised controlled trial (RCT) with 38 transplanted and 45 non-transplanted patients and judged a low risk of bias. We further identified 61 single-arm studies with 256 transplanted patients. Overall survival in the RCT was reported not statistically significantly different between autologous HSCT following HDCT versus SDCT. The HR was 1.26 (95% CI 0.70 to 2.29; p=0.44) and the point estimates at 3 years were 32.7% vs 49.4%. Data from single-arm studies were used to extract data on adverse events. Treatment-related mortality was reported in 5.1% (15 of 294) transplanted patients. CONCLUSIONS: Overall survival in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NRSTS was not statistically different after autologous HSCT following HDCT compared with SDCT in a single RCT with a total of 83 patients. No other comparative study was available. The proportion of adverse events among the transplanted patients is not clear.