Vandetanib may be effective option for treatment of advanced hereditary medullary thyroid cancer

Vandetanib, a selective inhibitor of RET, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and epidermal growth factor receptor signaling, demonstrated partial responses, prolonged disease control and a manageable adverse event profile in patients with advanced hereditary medullary thyroid cancer, according to the findings of a phase-2 study.

There are currently no effective therapies for patients with metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma.), Researchers assigned 30 patients to 300 mg of oral vandetanib (Zactima, AstraZeneca) daily to assess the efficacy of the drug.

Twenty percent of patients achieved partial response. The median duration of response was 10.2 months (95% CI, 8.0-13.2). Fifty-three percent of patients had stable disease at 24 weeks or longer.

Some tumor size reduction was observed in 83% of patients. The median PFS was 27.9 months. There were decreases in serum calcitonin for 80% of patients and decreases in carcinoembryonic antigen for 53%.

The most common adverse events were diarrhea, fatigue, rash and nausea, according to researchers.

Wells SA. J Clin Oncol. 2010;doi:10.1200/JCO.2009.23.6604.