Search

Background: Malignant phyllodes tumors (MPT) are rare fibroepithelial breast tumors that disproportionately affect young women. Despite high local and distant recurrence rates, treatment is almost exclusively surgical. With no known effective chemotherapy or targeted systemic therapy options, metastatic progression portends dismal prognosis. Current national guidelines do not recommend biomarker testing in the non-metastatic setting. Management of metastatic disease follows principles of soft tissue sarcoma recommending Next-Generation Sequencing on an individual basis for patients who may qualify for clinical trials or are refractory to standard therapies. In the largest genomic profiling effort of MPT to date, we sought to describe the genomic landscape of MPTs through comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) and immunotherapeutic biomarker analysis. Methods: Cases of sequenced MPT were identified from a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratory database (Foundation Medicine, Cambridge, MA). Cases were categorized as localized/locally recurrent or metastatic. All cases underwent CGP by DNA extraction from FFPE samples using a hybrid capture, adaptor ligation-based next generation sequencing assay, and all classes of genomic alterations, microsatellite instability (MSI), and tumor mutational burden (TMB) were evaluated. PD-L1 expression by IHC was measured by the DAKO 22C3 assay (scored CPS) or the Ventana SP142 assay (scored as IC). Patient characteristics and results of CGP of MPT were summarized by either N (%) or median (range). Factors from MPT were compared to all cases of breast carcinoma in the lab database. Fisher’s Exact Tests were used to test for differences between groups and analysis of variance was used to test for differences for continuous variables. Results: Of 135 MPT cases identified; 94 (69.6%) were localized/locally recurrent (breast, chest wall, soft tissue, skin, or lymph node) and 41 (30.4%) were metastatic (73% lung, followed by bone, liver, other intraabdominal). All patients were female with a median age of 54 years (range 14-86). The median TMB across samples was 2.5 mut/Mb and only 3 were TMB-high tumors (>10mut/Mb). Over 1/3 (36.8%) of samples were PD-L1+ via Ventana SP142 assay (≥1) and 21.4% were PD-L1+ via Dako 22C3 assay (CPS ≥10). All evaluable cases (N=132) were microsatellite stable. The ten most commonly altered genes included TERT-promoter (69.7%), CDKN2A (45.9%), TP53 (37.8%), NF1 (35.6%), CDKN2B (33.3%), MED12 (28.9%), MTAP (27.7%), KMT2D (22.2%), PIK3CA (20.0%), PTEN (18.5%), and RB1 (18.5%); notably distinct in frequency from the breast carcinoma cohort (Table 1). Alterations in genes affecting cell cycle regulation (i.e. CDKN2A/B and TP53) were mutually exclusive from one another (p< 0.001). Several tumors harbored genomic alterations with FDA-approved indications in other tumor types were found including: NF1, PIK3CA, EGFR Exon 19/20 insertions, and BRAF V600E mutations. There were no statistically significant differences between alterations in localized/locally recurrent versus metastatic specimens. Conclusions: In the largest genomic evaluation of localized/locally recurrent or metastatic MPTs to date, multiple clinically actionable mutations for further exploration were found. TERT-promoter was altered in the majority of cases. PDL-1 was expressed in over 1/3 of cases suggesting that clinical investigation of immunotherapeutic strategies is warranted. Routine sequencing of metastatic MPT may provide additional information to guide treatment decisions and clinical trial enrollment. Table 1. Frequency of Genomic Alterations identified in 135 cases of Malignant Phyllodes Tumors. Citation Format: Laura H. Rosenberger, Richard F. Riedel, Natalie A. Danziger, Ethan Sokol, Jeffrey S. Ross, Sarah L. Sammons. Genomic Evaluation of Malignant Phyllodes Tumors Reveals Multiple Targetable Opportunities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-23-03.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are the most common type of soft tissue sarcoma that occur throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Most of these tumors are caused by oncogenic activating mutations in the KIT or PDGFRA genes. The NCCN Guidelines for GIST provide recommendations for the diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, and follow-up of patients with these tumors. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the panel discussion behind recent important updates to the guidelines, including revised systemic therapy options for unresectable, progressive, or metastatic GIST based on mutational status, and updated recommendations for the management of GIST that develop resistance to specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare malignancies of mesenchymal cell origin that display a heterogenous mix of clinical and pathologic characteristics. STS can develop from fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, and other connective tissues. The evaluation and treatment of patients with STS requires a multidisciplinary team with demonstrated expertise in the management of these tumors. The complete NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Soft Tissue Sarcoma provide recommendations for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of extremity/superficial trunk/head and neck STS, as well as retroperitoneal/intra-abdominal STS, desmoid tumors, and rhabdomyosarcoma. This portion of the NCCN Guidelines discusses general principles for the diagnosis and treatment of retroperitoneal/intra-abdominal STS, outlines treatment recommendations, and reviews the evidence to support the guidelines recommendations.

Bone sarcomas are rare heterogeneous tumors that affect patients of all ages including children, adolescent young adults, and older adults. They include many aggressive subtypes and patient groups with poor outcomes, poor access to clinical trials, and lack of defined standard therapeutic strategies. Conventional chondrosarcoma remains a surgical disease, with no defined role for cytotoxic therapy and no approved targeted systemic therapies. Here, we discuss promising novel targets and strategies undergoing evaluation in clinical trials. Multiagent chemotherapy has greatly improved outcomes for patients with Ewing sarcoma (ES) and osteosarcoma, but management of those with high-risk or recurrent disease remains challenging and controversial. We describe the impact of international collaborative trials, such as the rEECur study, that aim to define optimal treatment strategies for those with recurrent, refractory ES, and evidence for high-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell support. We also discuss current and emerging strategies for other small round cell sarcomas, such as CIC-rearranged, BCOR-rearranged tumors, and the evaluation of emerging novel therapeutics and trial designs that may offer a new paradigm to improve survival in these aggressive tumors with notoriously bad (to the bone) outcomes.

PURPOSE CMB305 is a heterologous prime-boost vaccination regimen created to prime NY-ESO-1–specific CD8 T-cell populations and then activate the immune response with a potent TLR-4 agonist. This open-label randomized phase II trial was designed to investigate the efficacy and safety of adding the CMB305 regimen to atezolizumab (anti–programmed death ligand-1 therapy) in comparison with atezolizumab alone in patients with synovial sarcoma or myxoid liposarcoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with locally advanced, relapsed, or metastatic synovial sarcoma or myxoid liposarcoma (any grade) were randomly assigned to receive CMB305 with atezolizumab (experimental arm) or atezolizumab alone (control arm). The primary end points were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Safety and immune responses were assessed. RESULTS A total of 89 patients were enrolled; 55.1% had received ≥ 2 prior lines of chemotherapy. Median PFS was 2.6 months and 1.6 months in the combination and control arms, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.6 to 1.3). Median OS was 18 months in both treatment arms. Patients treated with combination therapy had a significantly higher rate of treatment-induced NY-ESO-1–specific T cells ( P = .01) and NY-ESO-1–specific antibody responses ( P < .0001). In a post hoc analysis of all dosed patients, OS was longer (36 months) in the subset who developed anti-NY-ESO-1 T-cell immune response (hazard ratio, 0.3; P = .02). CONCLUSION Although the combination of CMB305 and atezolizumab did not result in significant increases in PFS or OS compared with atezolizumab alone, some patients demonstrated evidence of an anti-NY-ESO-1 immune response and appeared to fare better by imaging than those without such an immune response. Combining prime-boost vaccines such as CMB305 with anti–programmed death ligand-1 therapies merits further evaluation in other clinical contexts.

Purpose:We recently reported a 17.5% objective RECIST 1.1 response rate in a phase II study of pembrolizumab in patients with advanced sarcoma (SARC028). The majority of responses occurred in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) and dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS). We sought to determine whether we can identify immune features that correlate with clinical outcomes from tumor tissues obtained pre- and on-treatment.Patients and Methods:Pretreatment (n = 78) and 8-week on-treatment (n = 68) tumor biopsies were stained for PD-L1 and multiplex immunofluorescence panels. The density of positive cells was quantified to determine associations with anti–PD-1 response.Results:Patients that responded to pembrolizumab were more likely to have higher densities of activated T cells (CD8+ CD3+ PD-1+) and increased percentage of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) expressing PD-L1 pre-treatment compared with non-responders. Pre-treatment tumors from responders also exhibited higher densities of effector memory cytotoxic T cells and regulatory T cells compared with non-responders. In addition, higher density of cytotoxic tumor-infiltrating T cells at baseline correlated with a better progression-free survival (PFS).Conclusions:We show that quantitative assessments of CD8+ CD3+ PD-1+ T cells, percentage of TAMs expressing PD-L1, and other T-cell densities correlate with sarcoma response to pembrolizumab and improved PFS. Our findings support that multiple cell types present at the start of treatment may enhance tumor regression following anti–PD-1 therapy in specific advanced sarcomas. Efforts to confirm the activity of pembrolizumab in an expansion cohort of patients with UPS/DDLPS are underway.

Comparison of tumor PD-L1 expression and tumor immune infiltrate between baseline tumor biopsies from responders and nonresponders (STS only)

Comparison of tumor PD-L1 expression and tumor immune infiltrate between baseline biopsies and at 8 weeks on treatment (STS only)

Note: Supplementary Table S1 was retracted by the authors on March 29, 2012 and has been removed from the site.

Response to anti-PD1 therapy is associated with higher levels of PD-L1 expression by (A) tumor cells and (B) tumor infiltrating macrophages and higher density of sarcoma-associated immune infiltrates at baseline. Tumor biopsies obtained from patients who responded to pembrolizumab therapy had higher baseline density (cell count/mm2) of tumor infiltrating (C) T lymphocytes, (D) cytotoxic T lymphocytes, (E) antigen experience T lymphocytes, (F) antigen experienced cytotoxic T lymphocytes, (G) activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes, (H) effector memory cytotoxic T lymphocytes, and (I) regulatory T lymphocytes. Baseline tumor samples available for immune profiling by IHC were obtained prior to anti-PD1 treatment (8 responder and 58 non-responder patients). Error bars represent SEM. * = p{less than or equal to}0.05, ** = p{less than or equal to}0.01, *** = p{less than or equal to}0.001, n.s. = not significant.

Comparison of tumor PD-L1 expression and tumor immune infiltrate between baseline biopsies and at 8 weeks on treatment (bone only)

SARC028 tumor biopsies obtained at baseline and after 8 weeks treatment and associated patient response to pembrolizumab

Supplemental Legend

Demographic and clinical characteristics of 84 eligible, treated patients

Figure S1. shows total epirubicin concentrations (mean {plus minus} SD) at the end of infusion of 170 mg/m2 NC-6300 across cycles.

Comparison of tumor PD-L1 expression and tumor immune infiltrate between baseline biopsies and at 8 weeks on treatment (UPS/DDLPS only)

Table S1. shows progression Free Survival in individual subjects. Table S2. show exposures to epirubicinol in subjects who received infusion of NC-6300. Figure S1. shows total epirubicin concentrations (mean {plus minus} SD) at the end of infusion of 170 mg/m2 NC-6300 across cycles. Figure S2. shows mean Change in EORTC QLQ-C30 Score from Baseline.

Resistance to chemotherapy in cancer is common. As gene expression profiling has been shown to anticipate chemotherapeutic resistance, we sought to identify cellular pathways associated with resistance to facilitate effective combination therapy. Gene set enrichment analysis was used to associate pathways with resistance in two data sets: the NCI-60 cancer cell lines deemed sensitive and resistant to specific chemotherapeutic agents (Adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, docetaxel, etoposide, 5-fluorouracil, paclitaxel, and topotecan) and a series of 40 lung cancer cell lines for which sensitivity to cisplatin and docetaxel was determined. Candidate pathways were further screened in silico using the Connectivity Map. The lead candidate pathway was functionally validated in vitro. Gene set enrichment analysis associated the matrix metalloproteinase, p53, methionine metabolism, and free pathways with cytotoxic resistance in the NCI-60 cell lines across multiple agents, but no gene set was common to all drugs. Analysis of the lung cancer cell lines identified the bcl-2 pathway to be associated with cisplatin resistance and the AKT pathway enriched in cisplatin- and docetaxel-resistant cell lines. Results from Connectivity Map supported an association between phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT and docetaxel resistance but did not support the association with cisplatin. Targeted inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT pathway with LY294002, in combination with docetaxel, resulted in a synergistic effect in previously docetaxel-resistant cell lines but not with cisplatin. These results support the use of a genomic approach to identify drug-specific targets associated with the development of chemotherapy resistance and underscore the importance of disease context in identifying these pathways. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(10):3141–9]

Purpose:NC-6300 is a novel nanoparticle formulation of epirubicin that has a pH-sensitive linker conjugated to epirubicin. It exhibits selective tumor accumulation owing to enhanced permeability and retention effect. We conducted a phase 1b trial to determine MTD and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of NC-6300 monotherapy in advanced, metastatic, or unresectable solid tumors, including soft-tissue sarcomas.Patients and Methods:This phase 1b dose-escalation trial of NC-6300 monotherapy employed a Bayesian continuous reassessment method design. NC-6300 was administered on day 1 of every 21-day cycle, with epirubicin-equivalent dose increments from 125 to 215 mg/m2. Safety, efficacy, quality of life, and pharmacokinetic profile of NC-6300 monotherapy were evaluated.Results:Twenty-nine subjects (16 male) were enrolled: 17 with soft-tissue sarcoma, one with osteosarcoma, and 11 with other solid tumors. Observed dose-limiting toxicities included thrombocytopenia, stomatitis, lung infection, and febrile neutropenia. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events were neutropenia (59%), anemia (24%), thrombocytopenia (24%), and febrile neutropenia (21%). MTD and RP2D were determined to be 185 mg/m2 and 150 mg/m2, respectively. The objective response rate in the evaluable population was 11%. Partial response was observed in angiosarcoma and endometrial stromal sarcoma. A dose-dependent increase was observed in both total and released epirubicin concentrations.Conclusions:NC-6300 was well tolerated with a manageable side effect profile, despite the MTD and RP2D being higher than conventional epirubicin doses. A signal of preliminary activity was observed in angiosarcoma. NC-6300 warrants further investigation in patients with advanced solid tumors, including sarcoma.

Comparison of tumor PD-L1 expression and tumor immune infiltrate between baseline tumor biopsies from responders and nonresponders (UPS/DDLPS only)

PURPOSE Malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor (PEComa) is a rare aggressive sarcoma, with no approved treatment. To our knowledge, this phase II, single-arm, registration trial is the first prospective clinical trial in this disease, investigating the safety and efficacy of the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor nab-sirolimus (AMPECT, NCT02494570 ). PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with malignant PEComa were treated with nab-sirolimus 100 mg/m2 intravenously once weekly for 2 weeks in 3-week cycles. The primary end point was objective response rate evaluated by independent radiology review. Key secondary end points included duration of response, progression-free survival, and safety. A key exploratory end point was tumor biomarker analysis. RESULTS Thirty-four patients were treated (safety evaluable), and 31 were evaluable for efficacy. The overall response rate was 39% (12 of 31; 95% CI, 22 to 58) with one complete and 11 partial responses, 52% (16 of 31) of patients had stable disease, and 10% (3 of 31) had progressive disease. Responses were of rapid onset (67% by week 6) and durable. Median duration of response was not reached after a median follow-up for response of 2.5 years, with 7 of 12 responders with treatment ongoing (range, 5.6-47.2+ months). Twenty-five of 31 patients had tumor mutation profiling: 8 of 9 (89%) patients with a TSC2 mutation achieved a confirmed response versus 2 of 16 (13%) without TSC2 mutation ( P < .001). The median progression-free survival was 10.6 months (95% CI, 5.5 months to not reached), and the median overall survival was 40.8 months (95% CI, 22.2 months to not reached). Most treatment-related adverse events were grade 1 or 2 and were manageable for long-term treatment. No grade ≥ 4 treatment-related events occurred. CONCLUSION nab-Sirolimus is active in patients with malignant PEComa. The response rate, durability of response, disease control rate, and safety profile support that nab-sirolimus represents an important new treatment option for this disease.

PURPOSE Antitumor activity in preclinical models and a phase I study of patients with dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DD-LPS) was observed with selinexor. We evaluated the clinical benefit of selinexor in patients with previously treated DD-LPS whose sarcoma progressed on approved agents. METHODS SEAL was a phase II-III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients age 12 years or older with advanced DD-LPS who had received two-five lines of therapy were randomly assigned (2:1) to selinexor (60 mg) or placebo twice weekly in 6-week cycles (crossover permitted). The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Patients who received at least one dose of study treatment were included for safety analysis (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02606461 ). RESULTS Two hundred eighty-five patients were enrolled (selinexor, n = 188; placebo, n = 97). PFS was significantly longer with selinexor versus placebo: hazard ratio (HR) 0.70 (95% CI, 0.52 to 0.95; one-sided P = .011; medians 2.8 v 2.1 months), as was time to next treatment: HR 0.50 (95% CI, 0.37 to 0.66; one-sided P < .0001; medians 5.8 v 3.2 months). With crossover, no difference was observed in overall survival. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events of any grade versus grade 3 or 4 with selinexor were nausea (151 [80.7%] v 11 [5.9]), decreased appetite (113 [60.4%] v 14 [7.5%]), and fatigue (96 [51.3%] v 12 [6.4%]). Four (2.1%) and three (3.1%) patients died in the selinexor and placebo arms, respectively. Exploratory RNA sequencing analysis identified that the absence of CALB1 expression was associated with longer PFS with selinexor compared with placebo (median 6.9 v 2.2 months; HR, 0.19; P = .001). CONCLUSION Patients with advanced, refractory DD-LPS showed improved PFS and time to next treatment with selinexor compared with placebo. Supportive care and dose reductions mitigated side effects of selinexor. Prospective validation of CALB1 expression as a predictive biomarker for selinexor in DD-LPS is warranted.

nab-Sirolimus is an mTOR inhibitor (mTORi) approved in the US for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced, unresectable, or metastatic malignant perivascular epithelioid cell tumor (PEComa) based on clinical efficacy and safety data from the phase 2, multicenter, open-label AMPECT trial (NCT02494570). TSC1 and TSC2 are tumor suppressor genes and key upstream regulators of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1); inactivating alterations (loss-of-function mutations or deletions) in these genes lead to mTORC1 hyperactivation, which may contribute to tumor formation. Phosphorylation of S6 ribosomal protein (pS6) is a reliable surrogate for mTORC1 activity. Here we present the results of an exploratory biomarker analysis performed on samples from patients enrolled in the AMPECT study. Targeted exome next-generation sequencing (NGS) using a 500-gene OncoPanel test (Center for Advanced Molecular Diagnostics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA) assessed mutations, copy number changes, and translocation events. pS6 was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Twenty-five patients had tissue sufficient for NGS, 56% (14/25) had either TSC1 (N=5, 20%) or TSC2 (N=9, 36%) mutations: TSC1, 1 frameshift, 2 splice site, 1 missense, and 1 nonsense mutation; TSC2, 1 nonsense, 7 frameshift, and 1 homozygous deletion. In this dataset, TSC1 and TSC2 inactivating alterations were mutually exclusive. Patients with TSC1 or TSC2 inactivating alterations achieved a clinically meaningful benefit: 64.3% (9/14) objective overall responses (including complete and partial responses) and median (95% CI) duration of response (DOR) of 45.7 (5.6, not reached [NR]) months, progression-free survival (PFS) of 41.2 (5.5, NR) months, and overall survival (OS) of NR (31.6, NR) months. Mutations in TP53, RB1, and ATRX were also common (48%, 24%, and 20%, respectively). Of tissue samples evaluable for IHC (N=25), responses occurred in 58.8% (10 of 17) of patients with pS6 positive tumors versus 0% (0 of 8) with pS6 negative tumors; absent pS6 staining was negatively associated with response to nab-sirolimus (P=0.008, Fisher’s exact). Median DOR for pS6 positive responders was 39.7 (5.6, NR) months. In pS6 positive vs pS6 negative patients, the median PFS was 24.4 (2.8, 53.1) vs 5.5 (2.8, NR) months, and OS was 53.1 (18.0, NR) vs 37.0 (16.6, NR) months. A variety of pathogenic inactivating alterations were observed in TSC1 and TSC2 genes, though TSC2 mutations were most commonly frameshift mutations; no recurring mutations were observed. A tumor-agnostic study (PRECISION 1: NCT05103358) is now recruiting patients with pathogenic inactivating TSC1 or TSC2 alterations to further examine these biomarker findings. Citation Format: Lee D. Cranmer, Andrew J. Wagner, Vinod Ravi, Richard F. Riedel, Kristen N. Ganjoo, Brian A. Van Tine, Rashmi Chugh, Erlinda M. Gordon, David J. Kwiatkowski, Jason L. Hornick, Heng Du, Li Ding, Anita N. Schmid, Willis H. Navarro, Loretta M. Itri, Mark A. Dickson. Biomarker analysis from AMPECT correlating response to nab-sirolimus with TSC1 and TSC2 inactivating alterations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 2 (Clinical Trials and Late-Breaking Research); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(8_Suppl):Abstract nr LB288.

ARST1321, a trial of patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma, was the first National Clinical Trials Network study codeveloped by pediatric and adult consortia with two treatment cohorts. We report on the findings of a survey to identify barriers to enrolling adolescent and young adult patients (15-39 years) onto the nonchemotherapy arm. The survey response rate was 31% with a 70% completion rate. Common identified reasons for low accrual in order of decreasing frequency included insufficient funding, lack of study awareness or interest, competing trials, toxicity concerns, philosophical differences in the therapy backbone, and regulatory and infrastructure barriers. Clinical Trials.gov ID: NCT02180867.

Desmoid tumors (DTs) are rare soft tissue mesenchymal neoplasms that may be associated with impairments, disfigurement, morbidity, and (rarely) mortality. DT disease course can be unpredictable. Most DTs are sporadic, harboring somatic mutations in the gene that encodes for β-catenin, whereas DTs occurring in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis have germline mutations in the APC gene, which encodes for a protein regulator of β-catenin. Pathology review by an expert soft tissue pathologist is critical in making a diagnosis. Magnetic resonance imaging is preferred for most anatomic locations. Surgery, once the standard of care for initial treatment of DT, is associated with a significant risk of recurrence as well as avoidable morbidity because spontaneous regressions are known to occur without treatment. Consequently, active surveillance in conjunction with pain management is now recommended for most patients. Systemic medical treatment of DT has evolved beyond the use of hormone therapy, which is no longer routinely recommended. Current options for medical management include tyrosine kinase inhibitors as well as more conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy (e.g., anthracycline-based or methotrexate-based regimens). A newer class of agents, γ-secretase inhibitors, appears promising, including in patients who fail other therapies, but confirmation in Phase 3 trials is needed. In summary, DTs present challenges to physicians in diagnosis and prognosis, as well as in determining treatment initiation, type, duration, and sequence. Accordingly, evaluation by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in DT and patient-tailored management are essential. As management strategies continue to evolve, further studies will help clarify these issues and optimize outcomes for patients.