Dr. Dreicer on an Alternate Sunitinib Schedule in mRCC

Robert Dreicer, MD, MS, chairman of the Department of Solid Tumor Oncology at the Taussig Cancer Institute and professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, discusses a 2-weeks-on and 1-week-off (2/1) schedule of sunitinib for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

The standard schedule for sunitinib is 4 weeks of treatment followed by 2 weeks of rest (4/2). On this schedule, patients are likely to experience toxicity and dose reductions that result in limited responses to treatment. To date, toxicity has been primarily managed using drug holidays.

In a study conducted at the Cleveland Clinic, several patients were transitioned to the 2/1 schedule. In this experience, toxicity was significantly decreased with the 2/1 schedule compared to the 4/2 schedule. However, Dreicer notes, at this point, prospective clinical trial data are not available to support these findings but clinical experience suggest better overall quality of life for these patients.