According to an abstract to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in June, the oral drug Axitinib (marketed as Inlyta) shows some efficacy in treating patients with treatment-naive renal cell carcinoma.
Axitinib was only approved by the US Food & Drug Administration a few months ago, and that approval was narrowly defined as being for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma that has not responded to first-line treatments. The FDA's advisory committee recommended approval but was not very impressed with the drug.
Thus researchers from the Cleveland Clinic decided to test axitinib in the first-line setting in patients who had not yet been treated for renal cell carcinoma (RCC, kidney cancer).
In a Phase II study involving 203 patients, researchers noted that axitinib demonstrated a "high objective response rate" and marked progression-free survival when the drug was used as first-line therapy.
Axitinib is a potent, selective, second-generation inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, meaning that it inhibits angiogenesis, or the development of vascular networks within a tumor.
One of the outstanding problems with axitinib is that its pharmacokinetics are unpredictable, meaning that only patients with high blood levels of the drug were the ones to benefit, and as an oral drug it is difficult to rely upon achieving those levels.
The trial was supported by the maker of axitinib, Pfizer.
Source: Medpage Today
The information provided on CancerTreatment.net is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her health professional. This information is solely for informational purposes and does not constitute the practice of medicine. We encourage all visitors to see a licensed physician or nutritionist if they have any concerns regarding health issues related to diet, personal image and any other topics discussed on this site. Neither the owners or employees of CancerTreatment.net nor the author(s) of site content take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading this site. Always speak with your primary health care provider before engaging in any form of self treatment. Please see our Legal Statement for further information.
