• Aristidis Polyzos.
• 1st Department of Propaedeutic Medicine, Athens University School of Medicine, Laiko General Hospital, 17 Agiou Thoma str., Athens, Greece. panoraiap@med.uoa.gr
• J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 2008 Feb 1; 108 (3-5): 261-6.

AbstractSU11248 sunitinib malate sutent is a selective inhibitor of certain protein tyrosine kinases including VEGF-R types 1-3 PDGF-R-a and -b, c-kit, and RET. Its antitumor activity may result from both inhibition of angiogenesis and direct antiproliferative effects on certain tumor types. In several phase I/II/III studies, sutent was found to be effective as second and first line treatment in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In fact, with a 37% response rate and an additional 48% stable disease sutent became the drug of choice for first line treatment in RCC. Sutent was also effective as second line treatment in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) with 8% response rate, 70% stable disease and a 20-month median survival. Prolonged stable disease was also documented in neuroendocrine tumors. In addition, a phase II study in multitreated women with breast cancer, sutent demonstrated a moderate activity with 16% clinical benefit. Finally, in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients' progressing on chemotherapy sutent was able to achieve a 10% response rate, a level of activity similar to those documented by other agents approved for lung cancer. The agent is being tested in other tumors with a modified schedule of dosage.

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