Rui Caetano Oliveira

Sarcomas are rare lesions and encompass a wide variety of entities, depending on their nature. In recent years new entities have been described and new knowledge, especially that provided by molecular studies, has been increasing. This makes it very difficult to be updated with all the described entities, since only some of the centers have the desired ancillary studies for the correct diagnosis. Some lesions are extremely rare and may appear once or twice during the lifetime of a general pathologist. When we refer to sarcomas of the gastrointestinal tract, the gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most well-known lesion that the pathologist will most frequently find in daily practice. This paper aims to comprehensively review the sarcomas associated with the gastrointestinal tract, emphasizing histopathology and going beyond GIST. This review highlights the histopathology of rare types of sarcomas so it may increase awareness of common and rare lesions, prompting an easy and effective diagnosis.

Targeting the B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family proteins has been the backbone for hematological malignancies with overall survival improvements. The Bcl-2 family is a major player in apoptosis regulation and, has captured the researcher’s interest in the treatment of solid tumors. Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of diseases, comprising several entities, with high morbidity and mortality and with few specific therapies available. The treatment for sarcomas is based on platinum regimens, with variable results and poor outcomes, especially in advanced lesions. The high number of different sarcoma entities makes treatment standardization as well as the performance of clinical trials difficult. The use of Bcl-2 family members modifiers has revealed promising results in in vitro and in vivo models and may be a valid option, especially when used in combination with chemotherapy. In this article, a revision of these results and possibilities for the use of Bcl-2 family members inhibitors in sarcomas was performed.