Critical appraisal of axitinib in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma

Jawaher Ansari,1 Syed A Hussain,2 Asif Ansari,3 John Glaholm41Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow, UK; 2Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK; 3Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA; 4University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UKAbstract: A growing understanding of the biology of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has led to the development and US Food and Drug Administration approval of seven new molecular targeted agents over the past 7 years. Axitinib is a potent, selective, second-generation inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors and the latest to join the armamentarium of drugs available for the treatment of metastatic RCC. Despite recent advances in the development of molecular targeted agents for metastatic RCC, the ideal sequencing of these agents remains unclear.Keywords: metastatic RCC, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor, molecular targeted agent, clear-cell carcinoma