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Can Pre-Surgery chemo boost outcomes in High-Risk Soft-Tissue sarcoma?
NCT ID NCT07823491
First seen Sep 16, 2026 · Last updated Sep 17, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This phase 3 trial compares adding doxorubicin and ifosfamide (AIM chemotherapy) before standard treatment with pembrolizumab, radiation therapy, and surgery versus standard treatment alone in patients with high-risk soft-tissue sarcomas that can be removed by surgery. Participants have undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma or liposarcoma in the arms, legs, or torso. The study measures disease-free survival and quality of life to see if the added chemotherapy is safe, tolerable, and more effective.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- doxorubicin and ifosfamide chemotherapy added before standard pembrolizumab, radiation therapy, and surgery
- What this could lead to
- If adding this chemotherapy before standard treatment helps, it could become a new approach for people with high-risk soft-tissue sarcoma that can be removed by surgery.
- What could go wrong
- This is a phase 3 trial, so results are not yet known. The added chemotherapy may cause more side effects without improving disease-free survival, and not all patients may benefit.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 3
Large-scale testing in a bigger group. Usually the last step before a treatment can be approved.
- Participants
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About 228 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Dec 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Age ≥ 18 years * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) 0-2 * Histologically proven diagnosis of UPS or LPS originating in an extremity or trunk wall. Alternative terms for UPS include but are not limited to the following: * Fibrosarcoma * Malignant fibrous histiocytoma * Myxofibrosarcoma * Pleomorphic fibroblastic sarcoma * Pleomorphic sarcoma with giant cells * Pleomorphic sarcoma with prominent inflammation * Pleomorphic spindle cell sarcoma * Pleomorphic undifferentiated sarcoma * Spindle cell sarcoma, not otherwise specified (NOS) * Unclassified spindle cell sarcoma * Undifferentiated high-grade pleomorphic sarcoma * Please contact the medical monitor or study principal investigator (PI) with any questions regarding potentially eligible histologies * Tumor size ≥ 5 cm on anatomic imaging (computed tomography \[CT\] or magnetic resonance imaging \[MRI\]) * Fédération Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre le Cancer (FNCLCC) grade (G)3 * Eligible for definitive local management of soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) per established guidelines with wide oncologic resection as determined by a surgeon with expertise in STS management * Must be a candidate for neoadjuvant radiation as part of local control plan as determined by a radiation oncologist with expertise in STS management * Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL without transfusion within 7 days of enrollment * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1.5 x 10\^9/L * Platelets ≥ 100 x 10\^9/L * Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN), or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 60 ml/min/m\^2 (modification of diet in renal disease \[MDRD\] formula) for patients with serum creatinine \> 1.5 x institutional ULN * Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x institutional ULN (in patients with a documented history of Gilbert's syndrome, bilirubin ≤ 3 x institutional ULN) * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)(serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\]) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT)(serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase \[SGPT\]) ≤ 2.5 x institutional ULN * In patients for whom prothrombin time (PT) and international normalized ratio (INR) testing is clinically indicated, PT or INR must be ≤ 1.5 x ULN in patients not on anticoagulation. In patients receiving anticoagulant therapy, PT and INR must be within therapeutic range for the given anticoagulant * In patients for whom partial thromboplastin time (PTT) testing is clinically indicated, PTT must be ≤ 1.5 x ULN in patients not on anticoagulation. In patients receiving anticoagulant therapy, PTT must be within therapeutic range for the given anticoagulant * Clinically normal cardiac function based on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥ 50% * In patients for whom 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) is indicated, ECG without clinically significant abnormalities * Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 3 days prior to randomization * Subjects in both arms must agree to use highly effective birth control measures during the study treatment period and for at least 6 months after the last dose of chemotherapy or date of surgery, whichever is later * Female subjects who are breastfeeding should discontinue nursing prior to the first day of study treatment and abstain from nursing until 6 months after the last study treatment Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with evidence of nodal metastases or distant metastases (DM) * Lung nodule(s) between 0.6-1.0 cm are permitted on study if stable on imaging for least 6 months or if fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scan suggests that the nodule(s) are low-risk for metastatic disease * Lung nodules \> 1.0 cm should be considered metastatic unless proven otherwise by biopsy or resection or if nodules have stable appearance for at least 6 months on imaging * Any prior surgery (apart from diagnostic biopsy), radiation therapy, or systemic therapy for management of present tumor. Patients with locally recurrent sarcoma after prior surgery alone are eligible for enrollment if other inclusion criteria are met * Hypersensitivity to DOXOrubicin, ifosfamide, mesna, or pembrolizumab or their metabolites or excipients * Prior treatment with DOXOrubicin (or other anthracyclines and anthracenediones) * Clinically significant cardiac disease, including, but not limited to: * Symptomatic congestive heart failure * Angina pectoris * Acute inflammatory heart disease * Myocardial infarction within 1 year before randomization * Uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmia * Active bleeding or clinically significant major bleeding episode within the last 4 weeks * Other invasive malignancy within 2 years, with the exception of adequately treated nonmelanoma skin cancer, localized cervical cancer, or low-risk prostate cancer * Diagnosis of immunodeficiency or treatment with systemic corticosteroids or any other form of systemic immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to study treatment * History of autoimmune disease treated with systemic corticosteroids and/or other disease-modifying agents in the last 2 years * Replacement endocrine therapy (thyroid hormone, insulin, corticosteroids) is not exclusionary * Patients with a history of autoimmune disease previously treated with systemic corticosteroids and/or other disease-modifying agents \> 2 years ago, who are not currently on systemic therapy, may be considered for enrollment on consultation with the medical monitor or study PI * Clinically significant, active, or uncontrolled infection * Known history of active tuberculosis * Active human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (confirmed by detectable viral load) * Active hepatitis B (confirmed by detectable viral load) * Active hepatitis C (confirmed by detectable viral load) * Any medically significant comorbidity, which in the opinion of the investigator would preclude safe participation in the study
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The study's own enquiry address
This study publishes an address for enquiries. See it below .
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
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Contacts and locations
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Study contacts
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Contact
Email: •••••@•••••
Locations
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Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Columbus, Ohio, 43210, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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