{"entity":{"id":"sarc028","kind":"trial","name":"SARC028","aka":[],"tldr":"SARC028 tested the immunotherapy pembrolizumab across the common sarcoma types and found that it works in some, undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma above all, and barely at all in bone sarcomas such as osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma.","summary":"SARC028 was a multicentre phase 2 study of pembrolizumab in adults with advanced soft tissue sarcoma (undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, dedifferentiated liposarcoma, synovial sarcoma and leiomyosarcoma) and bone sarcoma (osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma and chondrosarcoma). The primary endpoint was objective response rate.\n\nResponses were concentrated in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and dedifferentiated liposarcoma, which led to expansion cohorts that confirmed the signal in the former, while synovial sarcoma, leiomyosarcoma and the bone sarcomas showed little activity. The trial identified undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma as the sarcoma most likely to respond to checkpoint blockade and set up the neoadjuvant SU2C-SARC032 trial of pembrolizumab with radiotherapy.","status":"mixed","asOf":"2026-09-17","links":[{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02301039","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02301039"}],"tags":["subtype-trials"],"related":[],"cancers":["undifferentiated-pleomorphic-sarcoma","liposarcoma","osteosarcoma","ewing-sarcoma","sarcoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["pembrolizumab"],"companies":["merck"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":["hussein-tawbi"],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-sarc028-pembrolizumab-sarcoma-tawbi-lancet-oncol-2017"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"nct":"NCT02301039","phase":"2","setting":"Advanced soft tissue and bone sarcomas: single-arm pembrolizumab, with expansion cohorts in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and dedifferentiated liposarcoma","sponsor":"Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC)","result":"Pembrolizumab produced objective responses mainly in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and dedifferentiated liposarcoma, with little activity in bone sarcomas.","yearReported":2017,"enrolled":144,"outcomes":[]},"route":"/trials/sarc028/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"ewing-sarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Ewing sarcoma","route":"/cancers/ewing-sarcoma/"},{"id":"liposarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Liposarcoma","route":"/cancers/liposarcoma/"},{"id":"osteosarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Osteosarcoma","route":"/cancers/osteosarcoma/"},{"id":"sarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)","route":"/cancers/sarcoma/"},{"id":"undifferentiated-pleomorphic-sarcoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS)","route":"/cancers/undifferentiated-pleomorphic-sarcoma/"}],"drug":[{"id":"pembrolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Pembrolizumab","route":"/drugs/pembrolizumab/"}],"company":[{"id":"merck","kind":"company","name":"Merck & Co. (MSD)","route":"/companies/merck/"}],"person":[{"id":"hussein-tawbi","kind":"person","name":"Hussein A. Tawbi","route":"/people/hussein-tawbi/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-sarc028-pembrolizumab-sarcoma-tawbi-lancet-oncol-2017","kind":"paper","name":"SARC028: pembrolizumab in advanced soft tissue and bone sarcoma","route":"/key-papers/paper-sarc028-pembrolizumab-sarcoma-tawbi-lancet-oncol-2017/"}]}}