Sunitinib (SUTENT®) for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma

Kidney cancer accounts for approximately 2% of new cancers and conventional treatment with nephrectomy followed by IL-2 or IFN-alpha treatment does not provide long-term survival benefit in many patients. Increased understanding of the pathophysiology of renal cell carcinoma has prompted the development of targeted therapies for patients with this disease, including sunitinib. This paper reviews the most recent efficacy and safety data for sunitinib, as well as currently ongoing and planned studies for this receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Results from a large-scale, long-term, Phase III trial have established sunitinib as the standard of care for first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, and it is now the reference standard against which other therapies for this cancer should be evaluated.