Introduction: Treatment of the metastatic stage of renal cell carcinoma is specific because classical chemotherapy is not applicable here. The treatment is mainly based on molecularly targeted drugs, including inhibitors of tyrosine kinases. In many cases the therapy takes many months, and patients often report to general practitioners due to adverse events. In this article, the effectiveness and side effects of one of these drugs are presented. The aim of the study was to analyse of the toxicity and safety of treatment with sunitinib malate in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma in the metastatic stage.
Material and methods: Adverse events were analyzed using retrospective analysis of data collected in a group of 39 patients treated in the Department of Systemic and Generalized Malignancies in the Cancer Center in Krakow, Poland.
Results: Toxicity of treatment affected 50% of patients. The most common side effects observed were hypertension, thrombocytopenia, stomatitis, diarrhea and weakness. Grade 3 serious adverse events according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4 affected up to 10% of patients. The most common serious adverse events were hypertension and fatigue.
Conclusions: Sunitinib malate is characterized by a particular type of toxicity. Knowledge of the types and range of adverse events of this drug is an important part of oncological and internal medicine care.