ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the efficacy and toxicity of sorafenib in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma. Methods From May 2007 to JUN 2009, 33 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma were given oral sorafenib 400-600 mg twice daily. There were 23 males and 10 females in the study group. The pathological diagnosis of the primary tumors was clear cell carcinoma in 29 patients, papillary renal cell carcinoma in 2 patients, chromophobe renal cell carcinoma in 1 patient and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma mixed with clear renal cell carcinoma in 1 patient. Fifteen patients had multiple organ metastases and 18 patients had single organ metastasis. The median follow-up time was 29 weeks. Results Four (12%) patients achieved partial remission, 2 (6%) patients achieved progression disease, the remaining 27 (82%) patients achieved stable disease. Complete remission was not observed in the group. Two of the partial remission patients benefited on bone metastases. Common toxicities were skin reaction (85%), diarrhea (46%), erythra (42%), alopecia (36%), oral ulcer (18%) and hypertension (9%). Conclusions Sorafenib could be effective in controlling tumor growth. The overall effectiveness was 12%, the disease control proportion was 94% in this group and its toxicity was relatively minor and well tolerated.