FDA Approves Pfizer's Sutent

Treating certain types of stomach or intestinal tumors in certain patients.

It is also used to treat certain types of kidney cancer. It may also be used for other conditions as determined by your doctor.

Sutent is a multikinase inhibitor. It works by blocking certain enzymes in the body that may be involved in the growth and spread of cancer cells. This helps to slow tumor growth and may decrease the ability of the cancer to spread to other areas of the body.

SUTENT is a medicine that treats cancer. It comes in 12.5-mg, 25-mg, and 50-mg capsules. You take SUTENT once per day by mouth. Do not open the capsules.

SUTENT is used to treat an advanced form of kidney cancer, known as renal cell carcinoma (RCC). SUTENT may slow or stop the growth of cancer. It may also help shrink tumors.

SUTENT is available by prescription only. Your doctor has prescribed SUTENT because he or she believes it is the most appropriate treatment for you. SUTENT may not be appropriate for all patients with RCC and has not been studied in children. SUTENT may not work the same in every person.

Sutent is an orally-available small-molecule multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Receptor tyrosine kinases are implicated in a number of cell-cell signaling pathways governing angiogenesis, cell division and growth, and cell survival. By disrupting these systems, Sutent inhibits the ability of tumor cells to divide and grow.

Sutent is specifically indicated for the treatment of a pair on oncology indications: gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that are refractory to or have relapsed following treatment with imatinib; and advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Sutent is supplied as a hard gelatin capsule for oral administration. The recommended initial dose regimen is 50 mg once daily for 4 weeks, followed by 2 weeks off treatment. Dose may be adjusted up or down in 12.5 mg increments, based on patient response and tolerability.