Source: DGNews  |  Posted 2 years ago

PHILADELPHIA -- February 4, 2010 -- The drug pazopanib (Votrient) slowed the
progression of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in patients by 54% percent,
according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

“Advanced renal cell carcinoma remains a challenging disease, but the outlook
for patients has improved in the past year, including the addition of
pazopanib, which targets multiple pathways within cancer cells,” said author
Cora N. Sternberg, MD, Department of Medical Oncology, San Camillo and
Forlanini Hospital, Rome, Italy.

“These clinical findings are indeed very encouraging,” said Antonio Giordano,
MD, Sbarro Health Research Organization, Temple University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. “We will look forward to the further studies which are currently
evaluating the impact of pazopanib on the overall survival of treated patients.”

In the phase 3 study, 233 patients with previously untreated locally advanced
or metastastic renal cancer cancer and 202 patients with renal cancer who had
been previously treated with interleukin or interferon, were randomly assigned
to receive oral pazopanib or a placebo.

Results showed that the time it took for a patient’s disease to progress was
more than double for the group receiving pazopanib (9.2 months), compared with
the placebo group (4.2 months).

The most dramatic effect was seen in previously untreated patients (11.1 months
for the pazopanib group vs 2.8 for the placebo) and persisted among those
previously treated (7.4 vs 4.2 months, respectively).

The study is ongoing to determine how the drug impacts overall survival.

Common side effects of pazopanib included diarrhoea (52%), hypertension (40%),
hair color changes (38%), nausea (26%), weight loss (22%), and vomiting (21%).

SOURCE: Sbarro Health Research Organization