Treatment results obtained in metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma with a combination of doxorubicin and dacarbazine or doxorubicin and ifosfamide.

Between 1982 and 1986, 38 patients with soft-tissue sarcomas were treated with the combination doxorubicin/dacarbazine (group A); between 1986 and 1990, another 46 patients received doxorubicin/ifosfamide (group B); and between 1990 and 1991, 11 patients received an alternating regimen of doxorubicin and ifosfamide (group C). The patients' characteristics were comparable among the three groups. Overall remission rates were 34% in group A, 44% in group B, and 18% in group C. The duration of remission was 10 months and the median survival was 13 months in groups A and B. Toxicity, especially myelotoxicity, was severe, with no marked differences being noted between the groups. We conclude that both doxorubicin/dacarbazine and doxorubicin/ifosfamide are active regimens in metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas; nevertheless, the overall prognosis for these patients remains poor.