EAU guidelines recommend Pfizer's Sutent as first-line kidney cancer therapy

New guidelines, released by the European Association of Urology during its annual meeting in Berlin, Germany, advise the use of Pfizer's small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor Sutent (sunitinib malate) as first-line therapy in metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC). Observers suggested the move may help overcome reluctance among some European Union countries to reimburse the high cost of treatment with biologic drugs.

Kurt Miller, a member of the German working group for urological cancer commented: "the first-line recommendation of sunitinib malate in the EAU guidelines is an important step forward in ensuring this exciting new treatment option becomes a new standard of mRCC therapy across Europe." Currently, reimbursement policies regarding Sutent vary across the EU countries.

Of the approximate 86,000 new cases of kidney cancer occurring each year in Europe, the majority are RCC and of these about 30% present with metastatic disease. RCC is more likely to be diagnosed earlier in future with increasing use of computed tomography scanning, which should enable earlier surgery. However, currently metastatic disease develops in 20%-30% of patients, despite nephrectomy, it was noted.