Balancing Prolonged Survival with QoL Using Low-dose Pazopanib Maintenance: A Comparison with the PALETTE Study.

Background: A consensus has not been reached regarding the optimal pazopanib dosing schedule, which we determined in patients who received pazopanib at our Institution.
Patients and Methods: Twenty-five patients who were prescribed pazopanib between 2012 and 2015 were included in this retrospective analysis.
Results: The median progression-free survival (PFS) time was 7.7 months. This time (various doses) was similar to that achieved by high-dose pazopanib in the PALETTE study. The log-rank test revealed no significant differences in the PFS times between the low- and high-dose pazopanib groups, with the majority of patients receiving a dose of 400 mg, indicating that controlling the side-effects might be more critical than administering higher doses.
Conclusion: Pazopanib should be started from a low dose with careful increase to avoid pazopanib-related side-effects, which is necessary to provide a balance between the life-prolonging effects of pazopanib and quality of life (QoL) of patients.
(Copyright© 2016 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)