Preoperative Radiotherapy and Anlotinib With or Without Penpulimab for Soft Tissue Sarcoma (SPARE-04)

May 21, 2026 updated by: NINGNING LU, Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

A Prospective Multicenter Randomized Controlled Study of Preoperative Radiotherapy Combined With Targeted Therapy With or Without Immunotherapy for Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Soft tissue sarcoma is a rare cancer that often requires surgery combined with radiotherapy. Preoperative radiotherapy can improve the chance of complete tumor removal and limb preservation, but some patients still experience local recurrence, distant metastasis, or poor tumor response.

This is a prospective, multicenter, randomized phase II study for patients with localized soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity or trunk who need preoperative radiotherapy. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive preoperative radiotherapy plus anlotinib, or preoperative radiotherapy plus anlotinib and penpulimab. Surgery will be performed after completion of neoadjuvant treatment according to the study protocol.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate whether adding penpulimab to preoperative radiotherapy and anlotinib can improve 3-year disease-free survival. The study will also assess pathological response, wound complications, treatment-related adverse events, local control, distant metastasis-free survival, overall survival, limb function, quality of life, and exploratory biomarkers related to treatment response.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Preoperative radiotherapy is an established treatment approach for patients with localized soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity or trunk, particularly when limb preservation and complete surgical resection are important treatment goals. However, the pathological response to preoperative radiotherapy alone remains limited in some patients, and local recurrence or distant metastasis can still occur after multidisciplinary treatment.

Anlotinib is a multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor with antiangiogenic activity and has shown clinical activity in soft tissue sarcoma. Immune checkpoint blockade may further enhance antitumor effects when combined with radiotherapy and antiangiogenic therapy by modulating the tumor microenvironment. The optimal patient population and risk-benefit profile of this combined neoadjuvant strategy require prospective evaluation.

This study is designed to compare preoperative radiotherapy plus anlotinib with preoperative radiotherapy plus anlotinib and penpulimab in patients with localized soft tissue sarcoma who are candidates for neoadjuvant treatment followed by surgery. The study will evaluate whether the addition of penpulimab improves disease control while maintaining acceptable safety, surgical feasibility, and postoperative wound healing.

Participants will receive protocol-defined neoadjuvant treatment before surgery and will be followed after surgery for disease outcomes, safety, limb function, quality of life, and translational biomarker analyses. The study also includes collection and analysis of clinical, imaging, pathological, and molecular data to explore potential predictors of treatment response and resistance.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

274

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • China
    • Beijing Municipality
      • Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China, 100021
        • Cancer Hospital, National Cancer Center, CAMS & PUMC

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Primary or recurrent soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity or trunk with intermediate- to high-grade disease and tumor size >=5 cm or deep-seated tumor, for which radiotherapy is recommended after multidisciplinary evaluation.
  • Age >=15 years.
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 to 3.
  • Histologically confirmed soft tissue sarcoma.
  • At least one evaluable lesion.
  • Able to tolerate radiotherapy, anlotinib, and penpulimab treatment.
  • Female participants of childbearing potential, or male participants with female partners of childbearing potential, must agree to use effective contraception during the treatment period and for 6 months after the last dose of study treatment.
  • Able to provide written informed consent.
  • Able and willing to comply with follow-up.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No gross tumor remaining after unplanned tumor resection performed at another hospital.
  • Contraindications to targeted therapy or immunotherapy due to comorbidities, including allergy, autoimmune disease, active bleeding, ulcer, intestinal perforation, intestinal obstruction, uncontrolled hypertension, New York Heart Association class III-IV cardiac dysfunction, or severe hepatic or renal dysfunction.
  • Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, desmoid fibromatosis, tenosynovial giant cell tumor, or other locally aggressive diseases.
  • Benign tumors.
  • Sarcoma subtypes for which chemotherapy is recommended as the preferred neoadjuvant treatment according to guidelines, such as embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma or Ewing sarcoma.
  • Lipoma-like liposarcoma or well-differentiated liposarcoma.
  • New malignant tumor within 5 years before enrollment, except cervical carcinoma in situ, early-stage basal cell carcinoma of the skin, or early-stage lung cancer.
  • Soft tissue sarcoma that can be cured by wide local excision alone.
  • Prior radiotherapy to the same anatomical site.
  • Other severe medical comorbidities that would preclude surgery or participation in this study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Arm A: Preoperative Radiotherapy Plus Anlotinib
Preoperative Radiotherapy Plus Anlotinib
Drug: Anlotinib
Anlotinib will be administered orally at 12 mg once daily, starting 1 week before radiotherapy and continuing until 4 weeks after completion of radiotherapy, on a 2-weeks-on and 1-week-off schedule for 3 cycles. Dose modification will be performed according to protocol-defined toxicity management criteria.
Radiation: Preoperative Radiotherapy
Preoperative radiotherapy will be delivered according to the protocol-defined target volume and dose schedule before surgery. Radiotherapy may be given as conventional fractionation or moderate hypofractionation according to the study protocol.
Other Names:
  • Neoadjuvant Radiotherapy
Procedure: Surgery
Surgery will be performed after completion of neoadjuvant treatment. The goal of surgery is complete tumor resection while preserving organ and limb function whenever feasible, according to protocol-defined surgical principles.
Experimental: Arm B: Preoperative Radiotherapy Plus Anlotinib and Penpulimab
Preoperative Radiotherapy Plus Anlotinib and Penpulimab
Drug: Anlotinib
Anlotinib will be administered orally at 12 mg once daily, starting 1 week before radiotherapy and continuing until 4 weeks after completion of radiotherapy, on a 2-weeks-on and 1-week-off schedule for 3 cycles. Dose modification will be performed according to protocol-defined toxicity management criteria.
Radiation: Preoperative Radiotherapy
Preoperative radiotherapy will be delivered according to the protocol-defined target volume and dose schedule before surgery. Radiotherapy may be given as conventional fractionation or moderate hypofractionation according to the study protocol.
Other Names:
  • Neoadjuvant Radiotherapy
Procedure: Surgery
Surgery will be performed after completion of neoadjuvant treatment. The goal of surgery is complete tumor resection while preserving organ and limb function whenever feasible, according to protocol-defined surgical principles.
Drug: Penpulimab
Penpulimab will be administered intravenously at 200 mg every 3 weeks, starting 1 week before radiotherapy and continuing until 4 weeks after completion of radiotherapy, for a total of 3 cycles.
Other Names:
  • Anti-PD-1 Antibody

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
3-Year Disease-Free Survival
Time Frame: From randomization to 3 years after randomization
Disease-free survival is defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of local recurrence, distant metastasis, new malignancy, or death from any cause. Participants without an event will be censored at the date of last follow-up.
From randomization to 3 years after randomization

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ning-Ning Lu, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2031

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2031

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 21, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 21, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 21, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NCC6371

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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