A trial of pazopanib after surgery for kidney cancer

Cancer type:

Kidney cancer
Renal cell cancer

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 3

This trial looked at a drug called pazopanib after surgery to remove kidney cancer. It was for people who had the most common type of kidney cancer called renal cell cancer.

More about this trial

Surgery is a treatment for kidney cancer that hasn’t spread to other parts of the body. Your surgeon removes a part, or the whole kidney, and the tissues around it. This can get rid of the cancer completely for some people.
 
But sometimes cancer cells can remain in your body after surgery, and the cancer can start to grow again. Researchers are trying to find ways to stop kidney cancer from coming back after surgery. In this trial, they looked at a drug called pazopanib.
 
Pazopanib (Votrient) is a targeted cancer drug called a cancer growth blocker. It stops signals that cancer cells use to divide and grow. Pazopanib is already used to treat kidney cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (advanced). But doctors wanted to know if it can also help to stop kidney cancer from coming back after surgery.
 
Everyone that took part in this trial had surgery and then 1 of the following:
  • pazopanib
  • dummy drug (placebo Open a glossary item)
The main aims of this trial were to:
  • see if pazopanib can stop renal cell cancer from coming back after surgery
  • learn more about the side effects

Summary of results

The trial team concluded that pazopanib doesn’t stop renal cell cancer from coming back after surgery. 
 
This was a phase 3 trial. 1538 people who had surgery to remove renal cell cancer took part. 
 
The trial was a randomised trial. People were put into 1 of the following treatment groups by computer:
 
769 people had pazopanib
769 people had a dummy drug 
 
Neither they nor their doctor could choose which group they were in. And neither they nor their doctor knew which group they were in.
Trial diagram
Everyone had pazopanib or a dummy drug once a day, for 1 year. Doctors reduced the dose of pazopanib during the trial. This was because of the side effects. So, 198 people had a high dose of pazopanib and 571 people had a low dose.
 
The research team looked at how well pazopanib worked. To do this they looked at the number of people who had no signs of their disease 3 years after the end of treatment. This is called disease free survival. They found it was:
  • almost 7 out of every 10 people (66%) who had pazopanib
  • about 6 out of every 10 people (62%) who had a dummy drug
The team also looked at the most common side effects people had. They were:
  • diarrhoea
  • high blood pressure
  • changes to the hair colour
  • feeling sick
  • tiredness (fatigue)
The trial team concluded that pazopanib doesn’t stop renal cell cancer from coming back after surgery. They also found that the side effects of pazopanib in this study were similar to the side effects from previous trials.   
 
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.

Recruitment start:

Recruitment end:

How to join a clinical trial

Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.

Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.

Chief Investigator

Professor Hawkins

Supported by

Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
Novartis
 

If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses

Freephone 0808 800 4040

Last review date

CRUK internal database number:

10684

Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.

Wendy took part in a new trial studying the possible side effect of hearing loss

A picture of Wendy

"I was delighted to take part in a clinical trial as it has the potential to really help others in the future.”

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