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Brand name(s): Sutent®

• Approved for kidney cancer
• Approved for gastrointestinal stromal tumor

Full prescribing information ⁴ is available, including clinical trial information, safety, dosing, drug-drug interactions and contraindications.

Advanced Kidney Cancer

On January 26, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval for sunitinib malate (Sutent® capsules, made by Pfizer, Inc.), for the treatment of advanced (metastatic) renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) based on partial response rates and response duration under accelerated approval regulations. On February 2, 2007, the FDA converted the approval of sunitinib malate for advanced kidney cancer from accelerated approval to regular approval following confirmation of an improvement in progression-free survival.

Efficacy in advanced kidney cancer patients was demonstrated in a multicenter, international randomized trial enrolling 750 patients with treatment-naïve metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Patients were randomized to receive either sunitinib or interferon-α (IFN-α).

Sunitinib was administered at a starting dose of 50 mg orally once daily for four weeks, followed by two weeks off treatment. IFN-α was given subcutaneously on three nonconsecutive days/week at a starting dose of 3 MU per dose during the first week, 6 MU per dose the second week and 9 MU per dose thereafter.

The two treatment arms were balanced for baseline demographic characteristics. Patients were required to have a component of clear cell histology. Ninety percent had prior nephrectomy. The median number of disease sites was two. Common metastatic sites included lung, lymph nodes, bone and liver.

Efficacy data were based on an interim progression-free survival (PFS) analysis by an independent data review committee. There were 96 events (25.6 percent) of progression/death on sunitinib compared with 154 events (41.1 percent) on IFN-α. Median PFS was 47.3 weeks (95 percent CI 42.6, 50.7) for sunitinib-treated patients and 22.0 weeks (95 percent CI 16.4, 24.0) for patients treated with IFN; the hazard ratio was 0.415 (95 percent CI .320, 0.539, p<0.000001).

Objective response rate on the sunitinib arm was 27.5 percent (95 percent CI 23.0 percent, 32.3 percent) vs. 5.3 percent (95 percent CI 3.3 percent, 8.1 percent) on IFN-α. Overall survival data were not mature at the time of the second interim analysis.

Treatment-emergent adverse events occurring more commonly on sunitinib included gastrointestinal events (diarrhea, nausea, mucositis, vomiting, dyspepsia, abdominal pain, gastroesophageal reflux, oral pain, glossodynia, and flatulence); bleeding; hypertension; dermatologic events (rash, skin discoloration, dry skin, and hair color changes); hand-foot syndrome; limb pain; decreases in cardiac ejection fraction; and peripheral edema. Treatment-emergent hypothyroidism was also more common in patients receiving sunitinib.

Grade 3/4 adverse events more common on sunitinib included hypertension, diarrhea, hand-foot syndrome, nausea, vomiting, mucositis, and bleeding.

Grade 3/4 laboratory abnormalities more common in sunitinib-treated patients included hematologic abnormalities (neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and leucopenia), increased lipase, increased amylase, hyponatremia, hyperuricemia, and hyperbilirubinemia.

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Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST)

On January 26, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval for sunitinib malate (Sutent® capsules, made by Pfizer, Inc.), for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) after disease progression on, or intolerance to, imatinib mesylate (Gleevec®).

Like imatinib, sunitinib malate is a molecularly targeted therapy that binds to and inhibits tyrosine kinase proteins involved in a tumor’s growth and blood supply. However, sunitinib malate binds to different as well as more kinase proteins than does imatinib.

Efficacy and safety in GIST patients were evaluated in a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial in patients who had disease progression during prior imatinib treatment or who were imatinib-intolerant. The primary endpoint was time-to-progression (TTP).

Randomization into the treatment arms was 2:1; 207 patients were randomized to sunitinib malate and 105 to placebo. Baseline age, gender, race and performance status were comparable between the two treatment arms. Most patients enrolled (96 percent in both arms) had progressed on or within six months of completing prior imatinib therapy. Approximately 30 percent of patients were > 65 years of age and more than 98 percent had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score of 0/1.

A planned interim efficacy and safety analysis was performed after 149 TTP events had occurred. A significant advantage for sunitinib malate in TTP (median 27 versus six weeks with p<0.0001; hazard ratio = 0.33) and an advantage in progression-free survival (median 24 versus six weeks with p<0.0001; hazard ratio = 0.33) were observed. Survival data are not mature.

A single-arm study conducted in GIST patients following progression on or intolerance to imatinib enrolled 55 patients following identification of the recommended phase II regimen. Five partial responses were observed (response rate 9.1 percent, 95 percent C.I. 3.0, 20.0).

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Glossary Terms

The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another. A tumor formed by cells that have spread is called a “metastatic tumor” or a “metastasis.” The metastatic tumor contains cells that are like those in the original (primary) tumor. The plural form of metastasis is metastases (meh-TAS-tuh-SEEZ).

Surgery to remove a kidney or part of a kidney. In a partial nephrectomy, part of one kidney or a tumor is removed, but not an entire kidney. In a simple nephrectomy, one kidney is removed. In a radical nephrectomy, an entire kidney, nearby adrenal gland and lymph nodes, and other surrounding tissue are removed. In a bilateral nephrectomy, both kidneys are removed.

A measurable response.

A decrease in the size of a tumor, or in the extent of cancer in the body, in response to treatment. Also called partial remission.

A measure of how well a patient is able to perform ordinary tasks and carry out daily activities.

A study to test whether a new treatment has an anticancer effect (for example, whether it shrinks a tumor or improves blood test results) and whether it works against a certain type of cancer.

An inactive substance or treatment that looks the same as, and is given the same way as, an active drug or treatment being tested. The effects of the active drug or treatment are compared to the effects of the placebo.

The main result that is measured at the end of a study to see if a given treatment worked (e.g., the number of deaths or the difference in survival between the treatment group and the control group). What the primary endpoint will be is decided before the study begins.

The length of time during and after treatment in which a patient is living with a disease that does not get worse. Progression-free survival may be used in a clinical study or trial to help find out how well a new treatment works. Also called PFS.

A study in which the participants are assigned by chance to separate groups that compare different treatments; neither the researchers nor the participants can choose which group. Using chance to assign people to groups means that the groups will be similar and that the treatments they receive can be compared objectively. At the time of the trial, it is not known which treatment is best. It is the patient's choice to be in a randomized trial.

Describes a mathematical measure of difference between groups. The difference is said to be statistically significant if it is greater than what might be expected to happen by chance alone. Also called significant.

Beneath the skin.

A type of treatment that uses drugs or other substances, such as monoclonal antibodies, to identify and attack specific cancer cells. Targeted therapy may have fewer side effects than other types of cancer treatments.

A drug that interferes with cell communication and growth and may prevent tumor growth. Some tyrosine kinase inhibitors are used to treat cancer.