In a phase 3 study, 233 patients with previously untreated locally advanced or metastastic kidney cancer and 202 other patients with kidney cancer who had been previously treated with interleukin or interferon, were randomly assigned to receive the oral drug pazopanib or a placebo.

Results showed that the time it took for a patient's disease to progress was more than double for the group receiving pazopanib (9.2 months), compared with the placebo group (4.2 months). The most dramatic effect was seen in previously untreated patients (11.1 months for the pazopanib group vs. 2.8 for the placebo) and persisted among those previously treated (7.4 vs. 4.2 months, respectively). The study is ongoing to determine how the drug impacts overall survival.

Common side effects of pazopanib included diarrhea (52 percent), hypertension (40 percent), hair color changes (38 percent), nausea (26 percent), weight loss (22 percent) and vomiting (21 percent).

Source: Sbarro Health Research Organization