Cabozantinib treatment – case report

04/2020

MUDr. Igor Richter, Ph.D.^1,2; doc. MUDr. Josef Dvořák, Ph.D.²

¹ Onkologické oddělení, Krajská nemocnice Liberec

² Onkologická klinika 1. LF UK a Thomayerovy nemocnice, Praha

SUMMARY

The Czech Republic is the world leader in the incidence of kidney cancer worldwide. Approximately 70% of renal cancers are clear cell renal, which is associated with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene dysfunction. This disorder is associated with the accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), which results in similar metabolic events as in hypoxia. The result is the induction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with subsequent stimulation of angiogenesis. Inhibition of angiogenesis is therefore a rational basis for therapy. According to the current reimbursement decree, sunitinib and pazopanib inhibitors are of the greatest importance in the first-line treatment of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR). In most patients, however, the disease gradually progresses. The newer VEGFR inhibitor cabozantinib, which also acts on other signaling pathways (MET, AXL), can currently be indicated in the second line. This fact makes it possible to overcome resistance to previous VEGFR inhibitors. This is evidenced by the results of the METEOR study, where cabozantinib showed a significant prolongation of progression-free survival, overall survival and response to previous treatment with VEGFR inhibitors compared to everolimus. We started using cabozantinib in clinical practice at our workplace in 2018. Below we describe the case report of a patient treated with cabozantinib.

Key words

renal cell carcinoma, VEGFR inhibitors, sunitinib, pazopanib, cabozantinib