This research is being done because better treatments for sarcomas are needed. This is a phase III study. This means that one treatment is being compared to another to find out which is better. We are comparing the drug gemcitabine to the two drugs gemcitabine and docetaxel to find out which treatment is better for people who have sarcomas. From previous studies we know that gemcitabine causes shrinking of some people's sarcoma tumors. We also know that gemcitabine and docetaxel are useful for sarcomas as well, but we believe the two drugs together may be more toxic than the single drug alone. In this study we are trying to answer the question: Is the combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel any better than just gemcitabine alone?~This is a randomized Phase III trial comparing two treatment regimens in patients with unresectable soft tissue sarcoma. The failure rates observed on both treatment arms (failure defined as progression or death) will be compared to determine which regimen results in the lowest failure rate (Primary objective). As a secondary endpoint, the percentage of patients who are failure-free (failure defined as progression or death) at 3 months and 6 months will be compared between the two arms (Secondary objective).~This trial, sponsored by the North American Sarcoma Study Group of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society, is being done at a number of hospitals around the country and is expected to enroll up to 120 patients.
The purpose of this study is to compare the drug gemcitabine to two drugs, gemcitabine and docetaxel, to find out which treatment is better for people with sarcomas.