Pazopanib Safe, Effective as Second-Line Treatment for Renal Cell Carcinoma

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the European Journal of Cancer, researchers in Guangzhou, China, have found that pazopanib was clinically active and well tolerated as second-line treatment after sunitinib in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

For the multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 study, researchers sought to investigate the efficacy and safety of pazopanib as second-line treatment after sunitinib failure in patients with renal cell carcinoma and to identify potential biomarkers for pazopanib response.

Pazopanib is a selective multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for advanced metastatic renal cell carcinoma and advanced soft tissue sarcomas. Researchers enrolled 86 patientss with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma between 2009 and 2012 from three institutions in Southern China.

All patients received pazopanib 800mg daily. Results showed a median progression-free survival was 5.6 months (95% CI: 4.1 - 6.7). No complete responses were observed, but 15.3% (95% CI: 11.2 - 23.9) achieved partial responses.

In regard to safety, the most common adverse events were anemia, AST elevation, diarrhea, and hypertension, which were all mild to moderate and clinically manageable). Researchers identified DLL4, VEGFA, and HIF-2α as potential biomarkers of clinical efficacy for pazopanib.