ASCO Meeting 2008 Abstracts - Sutent induces PR in ASPS

[Fictional]

Olga, you may want to add something about this meeting's newest abstracts, but I did see someone reporting Sutent (Sunitinib) and its beneficial effect on ASPS.

The link: http://www.abstract.asco.org/AbstView_55_33650.html

The report was in 2 patients with metastatic progressive ASPS. Both had partial responses by RECIST to Sutent 37.5 mg per day.

'K' was on Sutent for 4 courses and it did appear to arrest the growth of her primary tumor, and may have made the primary easier to resect as by MRI it looked as if there were fewer intratumoral blood vessels.

The caveats of these case reports is that Sutent generally stabilizes rather than completely kills off tumors, and at least in other non-ASPS tumors, progression eventually still continues. Sutent might be contraindicated in patients with brain tumors because of the risk of intratumoral bleeding which may cause stroke.

The other abstract that caught my eye was one that discussed Nexavar and it looked as if it had more toxicity than Sutent (in other cancers). I'm sorry I didn't keep track of the link. They especially noted a higher incidence of toxicity in female patients. I noticed this because one of our doctors had suggested Nexavar in the past, but we had declined.