Cure Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma International (iCureASPS)

Hello

I am aware of this new Cediranib/ Sunitinib trial study, and am wondering if anyone has any information about how to compare the effectiveness and negative side effects of these two drugs. (I realize that the study is randomized and the patient will not know which drug they are given first.) Has one of these drugs been around longer? Is one prone to more negative side effects? Is Cediranib more promising?

Thank you for your support, and for this very important website.

Hi, welcome to our discussion board.
The questions you are asking are the main questions of this clinical trial - to compare the effectiveness and evaluate the negative side effects of these two drugs. If there were the answers already, there would not have been a need for a trial. Our community have an experience with both drugs but we do not know the answer for sure. The response to cediranib and sunitinib is different between the patients, the same goes for toxicity. May be someone here who had both can share their personal experience.
Sunitinib has been around longer. There are studies if the phase 1 when toxicities are looked at for both drugs. But what difference these answers would make? It is not like any patient is at liberty to choose which one of these two he is getting. Cediranib is not avail. yet as it is not even approved, it is only a study drug, and it is only avail. on this clinical trial. Sunitinib is approved and can be prescribed by the oncologist. But there is another effective TKI drug Pazopanib that can also be prescribed. They all somehow effective, but mostly are not the cure as the resistance usually develops to all of them, although there are single cases of the durable long term complete responses to all of these drugs. We only know 1 such a case in ASPS.

Dear Petal, Welcome to the CureASPS Discussion Board. If you are an ASPS patient or family member of an ASPS patient I encourage you to also post on the Personal Updates topic or the Anonymous topic if you prefer to remain anonymous. By posting your ASPS situation information you will be able to receive invaluable shared treatment information, suggestions, input, and strengthening support and encouragement from other ASPS Community members. Shared information is truly one of the strongest weapons we have in fighting this extremely rare and very challenging disease. Olga has provided an excellent response to your questions about Cediranib and Sunitinib (Sutent). Additionally, as the mother of now 32 year old Brittany who was diagnosed 13 and a half years ago at age 19 and has been on a Cediranib Clinical Trial in Edmonton, Alberta for the past almost six years since April 2009, I encourage you to read about Brittany's personal Cediranib treatment experience and results thus far in her topic under Brittany Hess in this Cediranib topic. You can also access information about other ASPS patients' Cediranib experience in this topic as well as the experience of those patients who have been treated with Sutent in the Sutent topic under the main Systemic Treatment topic. Cediranib, Sutent, and Pazopanib are all in the class of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) drugs and all seem to have similar negative side effects including severe chronic diahrrea, nausea, fatigue, hand foot syndrome, joint pain , insomnia, etc. but unlike Cediranib, both Sutent and Pazopanib cause the hair to turn white which resolves when treatment is discontinued. Unfortunately neither Cediranib nor Sutent have thus far provided any of the other Cediranib or Sutent patients on this Board with the significant and sustained disease stability that Brittany has thankfully had for the past 70 months. However, each patient is different, and each patient may respond differently to different treatments. Cediranib remains one of the most promising new systemic treatments currently available in addition to Pazopanib and Sutent, but sadly none of these drugs are considered a cure and can only help stabilize progression of the disease and shrink and, in some cases like Brittany's, completely destroy tumors. I Hope that this information and this Web site are helpful to you. I Hope too that you will become an active participant on the Discussion Board. In the meantime I would be glad to try to answer anymore questions that you may have. With best wishes and continued Hope, Bonni Hess