Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Resistance & Discontinuing Meds

[Fictional]

Just wanted to give people a heads up - that there is an emerging literature about resistance / rebound in anti-angiogenesis agents that are tyrosine kinase inhibitors - that might include Cediranib, Sutent, etc. There are also pipeline agents that would be beneficial...so if you are considering beginning these drugs or are having a good response, you might want to keep this information at the back of your mind.

This year, a number of oncologists at Sloan Kettering put up powerpoints about TKI resistance (I can share links if you wish, but may not be directly applicable to ASPS) - and they are saying if a person had a complete response to a TKI, they might still keep it on at a lower dose rather than discontinuing completely. Apparently some people have had more tumor growth / new metastases after the med was discontinued. If it is the case of resistance, there may be several options, continuing at a lower dose and adding chemo, or going to a different drug that is being studied for TKI resistance (mTORs, other investigational agents)...but this is all new information and don't think there are definite conclusions yet.