title: Efficacy of traditional and alternative sunitinib treatment schedules in Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
abstract: We report the adverse events and efficacy of traditional (4 weeks on 2 weeks off) and alternative sunitinib treatment schedules for Japanese patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. We retrospectively investigated 54 patients who received sunitinib for metastatic renal cell carcinoma between May 2006 and June 2012: 32 received a traditional treatment schedule and 22 received an alternative schedule. According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center risk classification, five patients had favorable prognoses, 42 had intermediate prognoses and seven had poor prognoses. The mean observation periods were 16.3 and 20 months for the traditional and alternative schedule groups, respectively. Adverse events were significantly less common in the alternative schedule group, including most high-grade events. In the traditional and alternative schedule groups, median times to failure were 4.1 and 11.6 months (P = 0.040), median progression-free survival times were 4.1 and 11.3  months (P = 0.031), and median overall survival times were 12.0 and 32.1 months (P = 0.018), respectively. Each of these measures was better in the group of patients who received an alternative treatment schedule, suggesting that individualized changes to the sunitinib administration schedule can be effective.
authors.affiliation: Prostate Center and Division of Urology, Chiba Cancer Center, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohzeki
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukasawa
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Komaru
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Namekawa
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Kimiaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Hirotsugu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007211:Indoles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D007564:Japan; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000077210:Sunitinib; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007211:Indoles; D011758:Pyrroles; D000077210:Sunitinib
keywords: alternative schedule; renal cell carcinoma; sunitinib