Dm. Brizel et al., TUMOR OXYGENATION PREDICTS FOR THE LIKELIHOOD OF DISTANT METASTASES IN HUMAN SOFT-TISSUE SARCOMA, Cancer research, 56(5), 1996, pp. 941-943
This study was performed to explore the relationship between tumor oxy
genation and treatment outcome in human soft tissue sarcoma. Twenty-tw
o patients with nonmetastatic, high-grade, soft tissue sarcomas underw
ent preoperative irradiation and hyperthermia and pretreatment measure
ment of tumor oxygenation. The 18-month actuarial disease-free surviva
l was 70% for patients with tumor median oxygen pressure (pO(2)) value
s of >10 mm Hg but only 35% for those with median pO(2) values of <10
mm Hg (P = 0.01). There were eight treatment failures; the first site
of recurrence was lung in all patients. Median pO(2) was 7.5 mm Hg for
metastasizing tumors versus 20 mm Hg for nonmetastasizing tumors (P =
0.03). Potential mechanisms and implications for clinical trial desig
n are discussed.