Pazopanib: a multikinase inhibitor with activity in advanced renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Treatment options for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have changed dramatically, and a new paradigm has evolved. IFN-α and IL-2 were previously mainstays of therapy, but since December 2005, six new agents have been approved in the USA for the treatment of advanced RCC. Three of these new agents are multitargeted kinase inhibitors, including sunitinib, sorafenib, and recently pazopanib, two target the mTOR (temsirolimus and everolimus), and one is a humanized monoclonal antibody (bevacizumab in combination with IFN-α) that targets VEGF. Sunitinib has emerged as the standard of care for treatment-naive RCC patients, with the recently approved bevacizumab and IFN-α combination providing an additional option for this population. The recent approval of pazopanib, based on the results from sequential Phase II and III clinical trials demonstrating improved overall response rates and progression-free survival, provides yet another option for front-line therapy. The current article examines the pazopanib preclinical and clinical data, provides an overview of the development of this tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and provides some speculation concerning its role in RCC therapy.

Keywords::

• pazopanib
• renal cell carcinoma
• tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Ronald Bukowski is a Consultant to GSK, Genentech, Novartis, Pfizer, Bayer; and has received Honoraria from GSK, Genentech, Roche, Pfizer, Novartis. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.