Imagine trying to remove a large, stubborn weed from a garden; sometimes it's easier to shrink it with treatment before pulling it out. This study checks if giving chemotherapy before surgery actually helps patients with a rare belly cancer live longer and better. By comparing strict trial data with real-world patient records, they are figuring out if this extra step is worth the cost.
High-risk retroperitoneal sarcomas have a dismal prognosis and are difficult to treat. There is a lack of clear, cost-effective evidence on whether chemotherapy before surgery improves outcomes compared to surgery alone.
A pragmatic clinical study design combining a phase III trial with a real-world observational cohort and a health economics analysis model.
If you are a drug manufacturer dealing with low adoption of chemotherapy for rare sarcomas — this project developed real-world evidence and health economics data that proves the clinical added value of neoadjuvant treatment. This can justify pricing and reimbursement strategies for high-risk patient groups.
If you are a clinic network dealing with inefficient treatment protocols for rare diseases — this project developed an evidence-based standard of care. This allows the clinic to optimize patient survival and quality of life while improving health system sustainability.
If you are an insurer dealing with high costs of late-stage cancer surgeries — this project developed a cost-effectiveness analysis of chemotherapy versus surgery alone. This helps in predicting long-term costs and defining sustainable reimbursement models for high-risk retroperitoneal sarcoma.
The project does not provide a specific price for the treatment, but it is performing health economics analysis to assess the economic value of different treatment scenarios.
The project is already scaling its data collection by adding an observational arm to a phase III trial, having recruited 165 patients in the STREXIT2 arm as of November 2025.
Based on available project data, the output is a new evidence-based standard of care and clinical guidelines rather than a patentable device or molecule.
The project is part of a phase III clinical trial (STRASS2) and an observational study to define a new standard of care for high-risk retroperitoneal sarcomas.
The project period runs from 2023-06-01 to 2028-05-31, suggesting final results will be available by May 2028.
The consortium consists of 5 partners across 5 countries (BE, DE, HU, IT, NL), showing a strong European reach. It is heavily weighted toward research and clinical expertise with 3 research organizations and 1 other entity, while maintaining a 20% industry ratio through 1 SME, ensuring that the clinical findings are balanced with economic viability.
Contact the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) in Belgium.
Contact us to access the health economics data for oncology reimbursement strategies.
