Sorafenib for metastatic renal cancer: the Princess Margaret experience.

OBJECTIVE

Sorafenib, an oral multikinase inhibitor, prolonged progression-free survival when compared with placebo, as second-line therapy for patients with metastatic renal carcinoma (MRC). Grade 3/4 adverse events were reported in 12% of patients. This study presents sorafenib's efficacy and safety in a less selected cohort of patients enrolled in an expanded access program.

METHODS

Patients with MRC received sorafenib 400 mg twice daily until disease progression. Tumor response was evaluated by RECIST criteria. Adverse events were graded by NCI common toxicity criteria.

RESULTS

From November 2005 to August 2006, 58 patients were enrolled. The median progression-free survival was 7.5 months (95% CI: 5.4-11.3), and the best responses among 54 patients were 11 (20%) confirmed partial responses, 15 (28%) stable diseases for > or =6 months; 10 patients (18%) had early progression at 8 weeks. Grade 3/4 adverse events occurred in 37 patients (64%; 95% CI: 50%-76%), the most frequent being skin rash in 17 patients (29%), and hand-foot syndrome in 9 patients (15%). Thirty-six (62%) patients required dose reductions and/or treatment interruptions.

CONCLUSIONS

Sorafenib is effective in a less selected patient population with MRC but leads to more toxicity than described previously.