Clinical response to sunitinib as a multitargeted tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) in solid cancers: a review of clinical trials

Angiogenesis is an integral process in carcinogenesis, and molecular inhibitors of angiogenic factors are currently being tested as treatments for cancer. Sunitinib is an oral multitargeted tyrosine-kinase inhibitor that blocks activation through the stem cell-factor receptor (Kit) and platelet-derived growth-factor receptor. Sunitinib has shown potent antitumor activity against several solid tumors, including renal cell carcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and neuroendocrine tumors in several Phase II/III trials. Recently, sunitinib has been used to treat other solid cancers, such as lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, chondrosarcoma, esophageal cancer, bladder cancer, glioma, and aggressive fibromatosis, and also showed potential efficacy in progression-free survival and overall survival. In this review, we examine the efficacy of sunitinib as a molecular-targeted therapy in patients with different types of solid cancers.