The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7478 p556
17 November 2007

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Early results show axitinib safe in renal cancer

Axitinib — a selective inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1, 2 and 3 — has shown promise for people with metastatic renal-cell cancer in a phase II study, published in November’s Lancet Oncology (2007;8:975).

All 52 patients with metastatic renal-cell cancer, whose previous cytokine-based treatment had failed, received axitinib at a starting dose of 5mg twice a day on an empty stomach. Complete or partial response to the drug was seen in 23 patients.

The median time to progression was 15.7 months and median overall survival, 29.9 months. Thirteen patients had stable disease for 24 weeks or longer.

The investigators found severe treatment-related side effects in 28 patients. Diarrhoea, hypertension and fatigue occurred in at least 10 per cent of patients.