The landscape of treatment for advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) has advanced significantly in the last decade and continues to evolve with the approval of new drugs targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Currently available oral VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) approved for treatment of mRCC include sorafenib, sunitinib, pazopanib, and axitinib. This review focuses on pazopanib, a multikinase VEGF TKI indicated for patients with treatment-naïve and cytokine-refractory mRCC. This article describes the preclinical and clinical evolution of pazopanib, with an emphasis on its development and role in mRCC. Pivotal trials are discussed that demonstrate the efficacy and safety of pazopanib and its important role in the treatment of patients with mRCC in comparison to other available treatment options. The clinical path of pazopanib continues to develop further, with several ongoing studies exploring its role in neoadjuvant and adjuvant RCC. Furthermore, its potential role in sequential and combination studies with other VEGFR and non-VEGFR targeted agents is discussed. Overall, pazopanib is a unique VEGF TKI, with a different and more favorable safety profile compared with other members of the VEGF TKI family and represents an attractive alternative for patients with mRCC.
Keywords: kidney cancer; pazopanib; renal cell carcinoma; targeted therapy; tyrosine kinase inhibitors; vascular endothelial growth factor.