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sunitinib and capecitabine (sunitinib-and-capecitabine)
Sunitinib 37.5 mg po once daily Capecitabine 1000 mg po twice daily
Sunitinib and capecitabine is a combination therapy pairing a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy agent, approved for advanced renal cell carcinoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. This dual-mechanism approach targets both tumor cell proliferation through kinase inhibition and DNA synthesis through chemotherapy, offering synergistic anti-tumor effects.
At a glance
| Generic name | sunitinib-and-capecitabine |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | Pfizer Inc. |
| Drug class | Sunitinib 37.5 mg po once daily Capecitabine 1000 mg po twice daily |
| Therapeutic area | Oncology |
| Phase | discontinued |
Mechanism of action
Sunitinib works by inhibiting multiple protein kinases that cancer cells depend on for survival and growth. These kinases control signaling pathways inside cancer cells and also regulate blood vessel formation that tumors need to grow. By blocking these kinases, sunitinib starves tumors of nutrients and signals needed for expansion, effectively slowing or stopping cancer cell proliferation. Capecitabine is a chemotherapy drug that gets converted into an active form once it enters cancer cells. This active form interferes with the cancer cell's ability to replicate its DNA and build the proteins needed for cell division. This directly damages cancer cells and prevents them from multiplying. When used together, these two drugs attack cancer through complementary pathways: sunitinib cuts off the tumor's growth signals and blood supply, while capecitabine directly poisons the cancer cell's DNA replication machinery. This combination approach can be more effective than either drug alone, particularly in advanced kidney cancers and certain gastrointestinal tumors that have become resistant to single-agent therapy.
Approved indications
Pipeline indications
- Metastatic Colorectal Cancer — discontinued
Common side effects
Key clinical trials
- Sunitinib and Capecitabine for First Line Colon Cancer (discontinued)
- Study Of Sunitinib In Combination With Cisplatin/Capecitabine Or Oxaliplatin/Capecitabine In Patient (discontinued)
- A Clinical Trial Comparing Efficacy And Safety Of Sunitinib And Capecitabine (discontinued)
- A Study To Find The Best Doses Of SU011248 (Sunitinib) And Capecitabine When These Drugs Are Adminis (discontinued)
- Study Of Sunitinib With Capecitabine In Breast Cancer (discontinued)
- A Study Of Sunitinib In Combination With Capecitabine Compared With Capecitabine In Patients With Br (discontinued)
- Study Of SU011248 Versus Chemotherapy For Patients With Previously Treated Triple Receptor Negative (discontinued)
Primary sources
Every claim on this page is sourced from regulatory or scientific primary sources. See our editorial policy for full methodology.
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| ClinicalTrials.gov | Trial enrolment, design, endpoints, results |
Competitive intelligence
For the full competitive landscape — auto-detected comparators, recent regulatory actions across the set, upcoming PDUFA, patent timeline, sponsor landscape:
- sunitinib and capecitabine CI brief — competitive landscape report
- sunitinib and capecitabine updates RSS · CI watch RSS
- Pfizer Inc. portfolio CI