On this page
1What this is
Every drug treatment for myoepithelial carcinoma that a paper abstract or trial record in the catalog describes being given to a patient, with what the abstract says happened1. 56 reports, 9 of them with a complete or partial response.
Read this first. These are single patients and small groups, read from abstracts
by a model and not yet checked by a clinician. A response in one patient does not show that a drug works, and
reports of failure are published less often than reports of success. There is no established standard drug
treatment for this disease2. Take the table to your oncologist; do not act on it alone.
56treatment reports
43papers and trials
9complete or partial responses reported
13in children
2Chemotherapy
| Regimen | Tumor and setting | Response reported | What the abstract says |
|---|---|---|---|
| carboplatin + paclitaxel | Soft tissue; recurrent or metastatic | Complete response | Complete response continuing after 3 years. Young adult, metastatic, RB1 mutation; 'initial excellent response' to chemotherapy; also had complete surgical excision and radiation to primary site. Hoggard 2017 |
| CDDP | Floor of the mouth; recurrent or metastatic | Complete response | No recurrence 7 months after treatment. Third recurrence reaching the skull base; superselective intra-arterial high-dose CDDP with radiation; tumour-free on FDG-PET two months after treatment. Takayama 2006 |
| vincristine + cyclophosphamide + doxorubicin | Parapharyngeal space (neck); before surgery (neoadjuvant); child | Partial response | Three-year-old, SMARCB1-deficient tumour; six cycles of modified CHOP-based chemotherapy gave a 'near-complete metabolic response' before surgery; chemotherapy continued with proton radiotherapy. Ajay 2026 |
| vincristine + doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide + ifosfamide + etoposide | Kidney; recurrent or metastatic | Partial response | Disease-free 44 months off treatment, after consolidation chemotherapy and surgery. Metastatic EWSR1-POU5F1 fusion tumour; VDC/IE gave about 90% reduction in disease burden on imaging at ten months. Dave 2025 |
| doxorubicin | Soft tissue; recurrent or metastatic | Partial response | Median progression-free survival 9.3 months for first-line chemotherapy (all regimens). Nine of 24 patients had systemic treatment; partial response documented in one patient on doxorubicin; number given doxorubicin not stated. Chamberlain 2019 |
| dacarbazine | Head and neck | Partial response | In a 23-patient series, two patients had partial response after chemotherapy with dacarbazine; number treated, setting and duration not stated. Tao 2014 |
| tegafur gimeracil oteracil potassium | Skin of the left thigh; after surgery (adjuvant) | Stable disease | No progression for two years. After surgery, radiotherapy plus this drug gave 'disease control without progression for two years'; patient had lymph node metastases at presentation. Obata 2024 |
| celecoxib + vinblastine + cyclophosphamide + methotrexate | Recurrent or metastatic | Stable disease | Stable disease for one year. Paediatric trial (ages 4-25) of four-drug metronomic chemotherapy; the one metastatic myoepithelial carcinoma patient had stable disease. Heng-Maillard 2019 |
| ICpE + IVE | Heart (left ventricle); after surgery (adjuvant); child | No recurrence after adjuvant treatment | No recurrence or metastasis 11 months after finishing chemotherapy. 12-year-old, EWSR1::KLF15 fusion; after resection had four cycles of ICpE and one cycle of IVE. Mwizerwa 2025 |
| carboplatin + paclitaxel | Parotid gland; after surgery (adjuvant) | No recurrence after adjuvant treatment | Abstract says 'complete response' achieved with surgery followed by this chemotherapy concurrent with radiotherapy; follow-up length not given. Soberanis-Piña 2021 |
| ICpE | Outside the salivary glands; child | Mixed across patients | Median follow-up 21 months. Systematic review, all chemotherapy pooled (19 evaluable): 57.9% partial response, 15.8% stable, 26.3% progression; ICpE comparable to sarcoma-like regimens. Salvi 2026 |
| cisplatin + doxorubicin | Soft tissue or bone; recurrent or metastatic | Mixed across patients | Median response duration 4 months. First-line for metastatic advanced disease: objective response in 5 of 6 patients, lasting a median of 4 months. Aiba 2023 |
| ifosfamide + cisplatin + etoposide | Soft tissue; child | Mixed across patients | Six of seven alive in first complete remission, median follow-up 2.5 years. Four evaluable after initial chemotherapy: two partial remissions, one minor response, one stable disease; all also had radiotherapy; four had initial resection. Bisogno 2014 |
| CTX + DDP + ADM/DTIC | Salivary glands | Mixed across patients | Sixteen-patient series: chemotherapy 'effective rate' 71.4%; this palliative regimen for unresectable patients had 'satisfactory response'; patient numbers not given. Zeng 2005 |
| docetaxel | Skin; recurrent or metastatic | Progression | Died of the disease. Second of two skin cases: progressed aggressively with multiple bone metastases despite docetaxel chemotherapy. Mizuta 2020 |
| platinum-based chemotherapy | Mostly head and neck | Not stated | Median progression-free survival 3.1 months for any systemic therapy in metastatic disease (16 patients). Non-response: 70-patient series, main systemic therapy platinum-based; 'no significant clinical responses' with any systemic therapy. Numbers per regimen not given. Madison 2026 |
| doxorubicin-based regimen | Mostly head and neck | Not stated | Median progression-free survival 3.1 months for any systemic therapy in metastatic disease (16 patients). Non-response: same series, a few patients received doxorubicin-based regimens; 'no significant clinical responses' noted with any systemic therapy. Madison 2026 |
| gemcitabine-based regimen | Mostly head and neck | Not stated | Median progression-free survival 3.1 months for any systemic therapy in metastatic disease (16 patients). Non-response: same series, a few patients received gemcitabine-based regimens; 'no significant clinical responses' noted with any systemic therapy. Madison 2026 |
| ICpE | Soft tissue or bone; after surgery (adjuvant); child | Not stated | Four children with localized disease had adjuvant ICpE; outcomes not reported by regimen (overall 4 of 7 alive). Valeriya 2026 |
| ICpE + IVE | Soft tissue or bone; child | Not stated | One child with localized disease had ICpE and IVE courses perioperatively (around surgery); individual outcome not reported. Valeriya 2026 |
| ICpE + IVE | Soft tissue; recurrent or metastatic; child | Not stated | One child with metastatic soft tissue disease had ICpE/IVE courses; individual outcome not reported. Valeriya 2026 |
| AP + vinorelbine | Soft tissue or bone; recurrent or metastatic; child | Not stated | Second child with metastatic disease had 'AP + vinorelbine'; AP not spelled out; individual outcome not reported. Valeriya 2026 |
| paclitaxel + carboplatin | Humerus (bone); before surgery (neoadjuvant); child | Not stated | Lung metastasis 1 year after surgery; died 6 months later. 16-year-old had two cycles before wide resection; tumour response not described; unnamed postoperative chemotherapy also given. Furuta 2026 |
| vincristine + cyclophosphamide + ifosfamide + etoposide | Kidney; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Disease-free 44 months off treatment, 5 years after starting treatment. Same patient: VC/IE given as consolidation after VDC/IE, then remnant tumour resected; its separate effect is not described. Dave 2025 |
| Adriamycin + cyclophosphamide + paclitaxel | Breast; after surgery (adjuvant) | Not stated | Adjuvant radiation, then four cycles of Adriamycin and cyclophosphamide and four cycles of paclitaxel; outcome not reported. Matangi 2024 |
| cytarabine + aclarubicin | Skin of the left thigh; before surgery (neoadjuvant) | Not stated | Reduced-dose chemotherapy given 'to shrink the tumor, enabling successful local surgical resection'; amount of shrinkage not reported. Obata 2024 |
| doxorubicin + ifosfamide | Paraspinal soft tissue; instead of surgery | Not stated | Alive at least 7.8 years. Surgery judged difficult; chemotherapy plus proton beam therapy called 'effective' with long-term survival; tumour shrinkage not described. Toki 2022 |
| carboplatin | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Died after 2 cycles. Non-response: bone and meningeal metastases; chemotherapy 'attempted with failure' and patient died after two cycles of carboplatin. Sawsan 2021 |
| ifosfamide + cisplatin + etoposide | Soft tissue; after surgery (adjuvant); child | Not stated | Congenital tumour; 'favorable clinical course' since ICpE chemotherapy after surgery for localized disease; no further detail. Baldovini 2018 |
| ifosfamide + etoposide + cytoxan + adriamycin + vincristine | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Non-response: 20-year-old, EWSR1-KLF15 tumour with lung metastasis 'initially did not respond' to two cycles of this Ewing sarcoma regimen. Stevens 2018 |
| ifosfamide + cisplatin + etoposide + vincristine | Soft tissue; child | Not stated | Four cycles of ifosfamide, cisplatin, etoposide then three of ifosfamide, vincristine, etoposide, with radiation to the surgical bed; outcome not reported. Miccio 2016 |
| carboplatin + paclitaxel | Breast | Not stated | 52-year-old woman had a 'dramatic response' to carboplatin, paclitaxel and radiation; no detail on shrinkage, setting or duration. Tran 2016 |
| cisplatin + 5FU | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Non-response: multiple lung metastases 8 months after surgery and radiotherapy 'did not show any response' to PF (cisplatin, 5FU) therapy. Kenji 2015 |
| TS-1 | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Taken for 8 months until adverse events. Started after PF failed, to maintain quality of life; stopped for adverse events; tumour response not described. Kenji 2015 |
| UFT | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Died 2 years 9 months after the operation. Switched from TS-1 after adverse events; tumour response not described. Kenji 2015 |
| cisplatin + 5FU | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Non-response: duplicate publication of the same patient as doi:10.5631/jibirin.108.389; lung metastases 'did not show any response' to PF therapy. Kenji 2015 |
| TS-1 | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Taken for 8 months until adverse events. Duplicate publication of the same patient; TS-1 given to maintain quality of life; tumour response not described. Kenji 2015 |
| UFT | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Died 2 years 9 months after the operation. Duplicate publication of the same patient; switched from TS-1 to UFT; tumour response not described. Kenji 2015 |
| doxorubicin + cyclophosphamide | Breast; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Chemotherapy continued for 20 months after metastasis was diagnosed. 61-year-old with lymph node metastasis after surgery and radiotherapy had four chemotherapy regimens including this one; responses not described. Endo 2013 |
| methotrexate | Mandible; before surgery (neoadjuvant); child | Not stated | Recurred 2 months after surgery; died 8 months after operation. Non-response: 17-month-old first thought to have osteosarcoma; high-dose methotrexate had 'little effect' before surgery. Asai 1995 |
3Targeted therapy
| Regimen | Tumor and setting | Response reported | What the abstract says |
|---|---|---|---|
| pazopanib | Soft tissue | Complete response | In complete remission 4 years after completing 12 cycles. EWSR1-KLF15 fusion tumour; abstract is a fragment stating complete remission induced by pazopanib alone; age and disease stage not given. Smith 2024 |
| icotinib | Lung; recurrent or metastatic | Partial response | Progression-free for 3 months. 68-year-old, stage IVB lung primary with EGFR exon 19 deletion and KRAS mutation; partial response to icotinib. Xie 2020 |
| pazopanib | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Partial response | Same patient: later oral pazopanib 'did result in a reduction' of lung and nodal disease; size of reduction and duration not given. Stevens 2018 |
| pazopanib | Abdominal wall; recurrent or metastatic | Stable disease | Stable until May 2022, about 3 years after lung metastases appeared in May 2019. Pazopanib 800 mg daily for multiple lung metastases; remained stable, then progressed and was offered palliative chemotherapy. Shoaib 2022 |
| [177Lu]Lu-FAP-RTX | Pelvis and perineum; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Radioligand infusion after relapse; well tolerated, fistula drainage resolved, but imaging response still pending. Earlier unnamed immunotherapy stopped for grade IV diarrhoea. Stephan 2024 |
| selinexor | Salivary gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Trial-wide median progression-free survival 4.9 months. Two myoepithelial patients among 21 treated; no objective responses in anyone; 17 of 18 evaluable had stable disease, not broken out by type. Hernando-Calvo 2023 |
| regorafenib | Soft tissue | Not stated | Non-response: AGK-BRAF fusion tumour described as 'chemotherapy- and regorafenib-refractory'; progression not explicitly described; chemotherapy drugs not named. Domen 2022 |
| cobimetinib | Soft tissue | Not stated | After regorafenib failed, cobimetinib alone gave a 'significant and durable clinical response'; tumour shrinkage and duration not described. Domen 2022 |
| BRAF/MEK inhibitor | Skin; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Title only: 'BRAF/MEK inhibitor-induced remission' after local recurrence; abstract gives no drug names, depth or duration of remission. Guidry 2020 |
4Immunotherapy
| Regimen | Tumor and setting | Response reported | What the abstract says |
|---|---|---|---|
| pembrolizumab | Parotid gland; recurrent or metastatic | Progression | All nine patients, including one with recurrent parotid myoepithelial carcinoma, had progressed on prior anti-PD-1 therapy (pembrolizumab in all; one also had nivolumab). Soohyung 2017 |
| nivolumab | Left thigh; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Title only: nivolumab for metastatic myoepithelial carcinoma caused immune-related myocarditis; tumour response not reported. H. 2026 |
| nivolumab | Recurrent or metastatic; child | Not stated | On nivolumab for 2.5 years before it was stopped. 15-year-old with metastatic disease; nivolumab stopped for an immune-related eye complication; tumour response not described. Ozturan 2025 |
| nivolumab + ipilimumab | Salivary gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | One myoepithelial carcinoma patient in a five-patient cohort; no objective responses in that cohort, two had disease control (which patients not stated). Young 2023 |
5Combination of classes
| Regimen | Tumor and setting | Response reported | What the abstract says |
|---|---|---|---|
| lenvatinib + pembrolizumab | Salivary gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | Four myoepithelial carcinoma patients in trial; all five partial responses were in other tumour types; one myoepithelial patient died, possibly treatment-related. Alan 2025 |
| pemetrexed + pembrolizumab | Salivary gland; recurrent or metastatic | Not stated | One myoepithelial carcinoma patient in trial; all nine partial responses were in other tumour types ('MEC' there means mucoepidermoid); own outcome not given. Katharine 2025 |
6Other or unclassified
| Regimen | Tumor and setting | Response reported | What the abstract says |
|---|---|---|---|
| rAd-p53 | Submandibular gland; recurrent or metastatic | Stable disease | No signs of progression during 5-year follow-up. Recurrence with lung metastases, no improvement after six cycles of unnamed chemotherapy; with recombinant adenoviral-p53 plus radiotherapy 'the foci were relieved'. Yang 2016 |
7Drugs being tested now
Open trials a patient could ask about are on the trials page.
8References
- Catalog compiled for this page: PubMed, Europe PMC, OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar records merged and de-duplicated, retrieved 11 November 2026. Method described on this page. method ↩
- Jamie D. Barber, Naomi Natale, Michael Casaus. Abstract 6355: Building the first comprehensive research ecosystem and preclinical model platform for myoepithelial carcinoma. Cancer Research, 2026. DOI ↩