Sarcoma Treatments: Recent Advancements in one of the Rarest and ‘Loneliest’ Cancer Forms

Sarcoma is a rare type of cancer that many people haven’t heard of. Sometimes described as ‘the loneliest cancer’, most are unaware of it until it directly impacts themselves or someone close to them.  

In the UK, only 1.3% of cancers are sarcoma diagnoses. Originating in the body’s connective tissue (including bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, nerves and blood vessels), there are more than 100 different subtypes, making it incredibly difficult to diagnose and treat. It can take multiple health professionals to identify whether a tumor is benign or cancerous too, which can contribute to misdiagnoses or further delays. 

Due to its rarity, varied presentations and a more general lack of awareness, treating sarcoma is incredibly difficult and poses a huge challenge to oncologists.  

That's why July is all about making a global effort to raise better awareness of sarcomas. That way, more people will recognize the symptoms and catch the disease in its earlier stages. As put by Sarcoma UK, “with greater general awareness, diagnosis could be quicker, treatment could be more effective and funding for pioneering research could be increased”.  

As well as raising awareness, we’re highlighting some of the incredible organizations who are advancing available treatment options for sarcomas. Backed by their powerful passion and dedication to fighting cancer, they’re working hard to develop innovative pipelines that improve patient outcomes and deliver new sources of hope.  

The difficulties of treating sarcomas  

There are roughly one hundred different kinds of sarcoma – but most fall under the category of soft tissue or bone. While the former is more common in adults who are middle aged or older, the latter tragically has the biggest impact on children and adolescents, with 670 cases diagnosed per year in the UK. 

Treating sarcomas is incredibly difficult for several reasons. A lack of awareness is one notable reason – but due to their rarity, doctors often struggle to detect and diagnose it. According to one report, sarcoma is so uncommon “that a GP [or physician] might only ever see one in their whole career”. It's highly unlikely that a teenager complaining of bone pain at night has anything other than growing pains. And yet, it’s an example of a symptom that could go undetected.  

When a sarcoma case does get diagnosed, there aren’t many treatment lines available – and every case has to be treated differently. Generally, patients will undergo a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy depending on the stage of their case. However, according to the Cancer Research Institute, these conventional therapies can “lead to the development of advanced, metastatic sarcomas that are resistant to these approaches”. New treatments are certainly needed.  

Below, we’ve spotlighted two new and exciting immunotherapies – one that’s planning an accelerated approval pathway following a Phase 2 win and another that was approved by the FDA last year and is already making an impact on patients’ lives.  

Novel cancer therapy for synovial sarcoma approved by FDA 

Sarcoma treatments have been slow to move over the years. But for patients with synovial sarcoma, a novel therapy was recently approved by the FDA for the first time in over a decade. 

Synovial sarcoma is a type of soft tissue cancer that tends to originate near the joints of the extremities – usually the arms or legs. It is a highly rare and aggressive subtype that accounts for less than 0.1% of all cancer diagnoses in the UK. The five-year survival rate stands at just 60%.  

The newly approved therapy is called Tecelra (afamitresgene autoleucel). It’s been successfully developed by Adaptimmune Therapeutics, a biotechnology company who are redefining the treatment of solid tumor cancers with the use of personalized medicine. 

Tecelra (also referred to as afami-cel) is “the first and only, one-time treatment for advanced synovial sarcoma that enhances parts of your immune system to target and destroy cancer cells”. The engineered cell therapy is designed to treat adults with sarcomas expressing MAGE-A4 and, following clinical trials, was shown to have a 43% overall response rate. 

Its creation marks a major milestone as the first cancer T-cell receptor (TCR) therapy to be approved by the FDA.  

Osteosarcoma treatment shows 91% survival rate following phase 2 win  

Another oncology win took place at the start of this year when OS Therapies saw positive results from the Phase 2 study of their osteosarcoma immunotherapy OST-HER2. 

Osteosarcoma is a kind of bone cancer that often develops in the bones of the arms or legs. Unlike soft tissue sarcomas, it is mostly seen in children, adolescents, and adults under thirty years of age. Although tremendously rare, it is an aggressive cancer that is devastating for those affected. In many cases, osteosarcoma develops in areas of rapid bone growth – which is why children and teens have the highest prevalence of the condition.  

OS Therapies is a clinical-stage biotechnology company working to develop a novel immunotherapy for this ultra rare cancer. OST-HER2 showed promising results in its Phase 2b trial, with 91% of patients remaining alive one year after receiving treatment compared with 80% of patients who were given the control therapy.  

Out of the 39 people included in the study (who had recently resected osteosarcoma with metastases that had recurred in the lungs), 33% were free of disease following their treatment with OST-HER2. In the control group, this figure was 20%. 

As a result of these successful numbers, OS Therapies are moving ahead with an accelerated approval process. Hopefully, this immunotherapy will be approved and launched sooner than expected – and can become an alternative treatment to turn to for patients with osteosarcoma.  

Key Takeaways  

It is brilliant to see both of these companies at the forefront of sarcoma treatment development. As one of the rarest and lesser-known cancers, it’s crucial that we continue to develop new treatments for those who are affected.  

Sarcoma shouldn’t remain a bleak diagnosis that nobody’s heard of. It’s time to spread awareness and recognize that for those affected, it is a truly grueling battle. By talking about it, its symptoms and the drugs being developed for it, we can work towards improving outcomes for people with sarcoma and making sure they don’t feel alone. 

Meet takes pride in helping life sciences organizations build the teams that contribute to life-changing medicines and devices. From clinical stage biotechs to well-established pharma companies, we place the people that create trial wins and exciting advancements that improve global health outcomes.  

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