Introduction Pazopanib is an oral vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor. to 600 mg daily. In arm A of 9 evaluable patients there was 1(11%) patient with a PSA response 3 (33%) with stable PSA and 5 (56%) with PSA progression; in arm B of 12 evaluable patients: there were 2 (17%) patients with PSA responses 6 (50%) with stable PSA and 4 (33%) with PSA progression. Median PFS (95%CI) was similar in both arms at 7.3 months (2.5 mo-not reached). Long term SD was seen in 4 patients who remained AZD8931 on treatment AZD8931 for 18 (Arm A) 26 (Arm A) Rabbit polyclonal to MST1R. 35 (Arm B) and 52 (Arm B) months. Conclusions In this unselected patient population pazopanib either alone or in combination with bicalutamide failed to show sufficient activity to warrant further evaluation. However four patients did had long-term benefit suggesting that targeting VEGFR pathway may still be relevant in selected patients emphasizing the need for improved predictive markers for patients with CRPC. Introduction Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed and second leading cause of cancer related death AZD8931 among men in North America. In the US in 2013 approximately 238 590 patients will be diagnosed and 29 720 will die of this disease [1]. Although primary androgen deprivation therapy is effective in treating patients with recurrent or metastatic prostate cancer development of castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) remains inevitable. Initial treatment of CRPC involves secondary hormonal manipulations with the addition of an oral non-steroidal AZD8931 anti-androgen such as bicalutamide. Although well tolerated bicalutamide has a PSA response rate of only 20% and a limited duration of benefit underscoring the need for new treatment approaches [2-4]. Angiogenesis mediated by the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor pathway (VEGFR) may be a good target in prostate cancer because it has been implicated in both the development and progression of the AZD8931 disease [5 6 In three studies in prostate cancer tumor tissue increased microvessel density a surrogate marker for angiogenesis has been shown to correlate with both disease progression and decreased survival [6-8]. Endothelial cells and prostate cancer cells from radical prostatectomy specimens express VEGFR suggesting VEGFR signaling may promote both angiogenesis and direct tumor cell proliferation [5]. Studies have shown that median levels of plasma VEGF are significantly higher in patients with metastatic disease compared to those with localized prostate cancer [9] and that elevated plasma and urine levels of VEGF may be independent negative prognostic indicators [10 11 These findings suggest that inhibiting the VEGFR pathway might be an effective approach in prostate cancer. Initial clinical trials of angiogenesis inhibitors in prostate cancer have shown limited activity and no improvement in overall survival [12]. More recent studies have focused on combining angiogenesis inhibitors with hormonal therapy or chemotherapy based largely on preclinical studies showing that angiogenesis inhibitors may restore sensitivity to these agents [13-19]. Pazopanib is a novel small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that targets vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and c-kit. Pazopanib is currently approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and for advanced soft-tissue sarcoma previously treated with prior therapy. The goal of this open label randomized phase II study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of pazopanib alone and in combination with bicalutamide in patients with chemotherapy-na?ve CRPC. Patients and Methods Eligible patients were ≥ 18 had an ECOG performance status of 0-2 a life expectancy > 3 mos adequate organ function and confirmed prostate adenocarcinoma. At study entry all patients must have had radiological documentation of either measurable or non-measurable disease as defined by the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST 1.0). PSA had to be ≥ 5 ng/mL with evidence of progression (defined as ≥ 2 consecutive rises in PSA at least 1 week apart) despite castrate testosterone levels (<50ng/mL). Patients must have been treated and maintained with medical (GnRH agonist) castration or undergone.