The Impact of Combination Therapy of Sunitinib with Interferon-Alpha on Survival of Patients with Loco Regional and Metastatic Clear Renal Cell Carcinoma

Background: Combination therapy is recommended in treating metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Objectives: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impacts of sunitinib in combination with interferon-alpha on the response rate, adverse effects, and tolerance of this treatment among patients with loco regional and metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Methods: The study was conducted on patients with loco regional and metastatic renal clear cell carcinoma. Interferon was subcutaneously administered twice a week and one sunitinib capsule (50 mg) was administered per day for 4 weeks, followed by a two-week break from sunitinib. The primary endpoint of this study was the response to this combination therapy and the second endpoint was disease control rate and health status in terms of drug toxicity and overall survival in patients. Results: The participants were 22 patients from 3 hospitals with 12 female patients and 10 male patients. All 12 patients with T4, any N, and M0 were in complete remission. Of the 10 patients with visceral metastases, 70% had a partial response, 10% had a complete response, and 20% were stable. Four patients having visceral metastases died due to progression of the disease. The mean overall survival was 15.6 months for two patients with only adrenal involvement, 12.9 months for 10 patients with Gerota's fascia involvement, and 12 months for 10 patients with visceral metastases. Conclusions: This combination therapy did not have a significant toxicity profile and was tolerable in our patients, who also had acceptable response to treatment.