Docetaxel With or Without Low-dose, Short Course Sunitinib in Refractory Solid Tumors
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2018-04-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
This study aims to find out whether the effect of docetaxel chemotherapy may be improved by
combining it with another anti-cancer drug called sunitinib, which stops blood vessels from
growing (anti-angiogenic agent). Sunitinib is an oral anti-angiogenic drug that has been
approved for the treatment of kidney cancer, a rare form of soft tissue tumor called
gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and a rare form of cancer in the pancreas called pancreatic
neuroendocrine tumor. Sunitinib is usually given continuously at a dose of 37.5mg (3 pills)
daily either alone or in combination with chemotherapy. However, there are studies which have
shown that the continuous administration of sunitinib may reduce chemotherapy effectiveness.
On the other hand, a short course of sunitinib before each chemotherapy cycle may sensitize
the tumor to chemotherapy. This treatment strategy will be used in patients with different
kinds of cancers with a commonly used chemotherapy drug, docetaxel. Ths study aims to
evaluate if intermittent administration of low dose sunitinib before docetaxel chemotherapy
can improve the treatment response in cancer patients.
Study Hypothesis: Low dose, short course sunitinib at 12.5mg daily orally for 1 week prior to
chemotherapy can normalize tumor vasculature and enhance delivery of chemotherapy into the
tumor, and improve treatment response and progression-free survival.