Concise Drug Review: Pazopanib and Axitinib

Learning Objectives After completing this course, the reader will be able to: Identify the current indications for pazopanib and axitinib.Describe the mechanism of action and the pharmacokinetics of pazopanib and axitinib.Enumerate the clinical benefits of pazopanib and axitinib, and describe the position of these drugs in the treatment paradigm of metastatic renal cell cancer. CME This article is available for continuing medical education credit at CME.TheOncologist.com Pazopanib and axitinib are both U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ATP-competitive inhibitors of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor. Pazopanib and axitinib have been shown to be effective and tolerable treatment options for patients with metastatic renal cell cancer and therefore have enlarged the armamentarium for this disease. This concise drug review discusses the clinical benefits, clinical use, mechanism of action, bioanalysis, pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenetics, pharmacodynamics, drug resistance, toxicity, and patient instructions and recommendations for supportive care for these two drugs.