Sunitinib in pretreated advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma: a primary result from Asian population

Sunitinib is an oral multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEGF receptors and PDGF receptors and is approved for the treatments of advanced renal cell carcinoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. However, only few studies were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the use of sunitinib in NSCLC. This study evaluated the clinical activity and tolerability of sunitinib in previously treated advanced NSCLC in Asian population, which, to our knowledge, has not previously been studied. We conducted an open-label, non-randomized phase II trial for Asian patients with advanced NSCLC. Patients 18 years of age or older had histologically proven stage IIIB or IV NSCLC which had progressed during or after treatment with at least one platinum-based combination chemotherapy regimen were included in this study. In all, 22 patients were enrolled in this study. Two patients achieved a confirmed PR, giving an ORR of 9% (95% CI 0.1–20.9%). An additional 7 patients achieved SD for at least 8 weeks. The median PFS was 11.8 weeks (95% CI 8.2–15.3).The median OS was 23.4 weeks (95% CI 14.7–32.1). Treatments were generally well tolerated. Sunitinib, as a single agent, had a substantial activity for Asian patients who had pretreated advanced NSCLC. The toxicity profile was favorable. However, large population and high-quality prospective clinical trials are needed to be conducted.