OncoTargets and Therapy (May 2018)

A favorable outcome of advanced dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans under treatment with sunitinib after imatinib failure

  • Xiao W,
  • Que Y,
  • Peng RQ,
  • Ding Y,
  • Zhao JJ,
  • Wen XZ,
  • Weng DS,
  • Zhang XS,
  • Guan YX,
  • Zhang X

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 11
pp. 2439 – 2443

Abstract

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Wei Xiao,1,2 Yi Que,1,2 Ruiqing Peng,1,2 Ya Ding,1,2 Jingjing Zhao,1,2 Xizhi Wen,1,2 Desheng Weng,1,2 Xiaoshi Zhang,1,2 Yuanxiang Guan,2,3,* Xing Zhang1,2,* 1Melanoma and Sarcoma Medical Oncology Unit, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Gastric Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China *These authors equally contributed to the work Abstract: While traditional cytotoxic agents play a limited role in advanced dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP), the treatment of sunitinib for patients with advanced DFSP after imatinib failure is not well defined. The objective of this case report was to analyze the relationship between molecular mechanisms and clinical outcomes of sunitinib treatment in patients with advanced DFSP after imatinib failure. In this case report, a 37-year-old man suffered from advanced DFSP progression after surgical operation, microwave ablation, and chemotherapy. The immunohistochemistry in this patient revealed abundant expression of platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta on tumor cells, which is one of the drug targets of sunitinib. The nucleotide sequence analysis revealed COL1A1-PDGFB fusion transcripts in this patient. Thus, we treated the patient with sunitinib, a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, after imatinib failure. After treatment with sunitinib, the patient exhibited a partial response and 9 months’ progression-free survival without significant adverse drug effects. In our case, the patient with advanced DFSP experienced a favorable outcome in 9-months’ progression-free survival and a significant improvement of quality of life without serious side effects after sunitinib treatment. Therefore, sunitinib could serve as another treatment option for patients with advanced DFSP. Keywords: COL1A1-PDGFB fusion gene, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta, sunitinib

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