Experience with Sunitinib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients: pooled analysis from 3 Spanish observational prospective studies

Background: A pivotal, randomized, phase III trial demonstrated a statistically significant superiority of sunitinib over interferon-α in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of sunitinib in patients with advanced or mRCC in routine clinical practice.

Methods: Retrospective pooled analysis of clinical data from three observational and prospective studies carried out between 2007 and 2011 in 33 Spanish hospitals. Tumor response, Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and main sunitinib-related toxicities were registered.

Results: 224 patients were analyzed. Median PFS 10.6 months (95% CI: 9.02–12.25), median OS 21.9 months (95% CI: 17.2–26.6). Objective response rate (ORR) 43.8% (95% CI: 36.8–50.7). Median time to PR was 3.8 months (95% CI: 3.86–5.99) and to CR 8.2 months (95% CI: 4.75–9.77). The most common ≥ grade-3 AEs were asthenia/fatigue (18.7%), hand-foot syndrome (6.2%), hypertension (5.8%) and neutropenia (4.8%). Hand-foot syndrome, diarrhea and mucositis were confirmed as independent predictors for PFS and/or OS in a multivariate analysis (p < 0.05)

Conclusions: Outcomes with sunitinib in daily clinical practice resemble those obtained in clinical trials. Long-term benefit with sunitinib is possible in advanced RCC patients but the appropriate management of toxicities is mandatory to enable patients to remain on treatment.