To investigate the variation in the chemosensitivity in soft tissue sarcoma (STS), fresh biopsy with sample for culture was tested using the histoculture drug response assay (HDRA)method.

30 samples of fresh STS were obtained during either biopsy or surgical removal at our hospital between March, 2002 and March, 2004.

Drug sensitivity testing by HDRA showed that two drug, Doxorubicin and CDDP, had a significantly higher inhibition rate than BLM, CTX, DTIC, VCR or VP-16 in the thirty STS tested. Doxorubicin showed the highest inhibition rate in the liposarcoma. CDDP shoewd the significant inhibition rate in the synovial sarcoma and malignant fibrous histiocytpma. Depending on the morphological type, round cell sarcoma and pleomorphic sarcoma were more sensitive to Doxorubicin and CDDP than spindle cell sarcoma. In the round cell sarcoma, BLM, CTX, VP-16 and IFS also showed above 30% inhibition rate.

Drug sensitivity testing in STS should be evaluated with clinical outcome in the future and then HDRA will provide useful information for selection of an anticancer agent for STS because of its ease of evaluation and high predictability.