RESEARCH ARTICLE Efficacy and Safety of Sorafenib Therapy on Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma in Korean Patients: Results from a Retrospective Multicenter Study

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of sorafenib for Korean patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Methods A total of 177 mRCC patients using sorafenib as first- (N = 116), second- (N = 43), and third-line (N = 18) therapies were enrolled from 11 Korean centers between 2006 and 2012. The patient characteristics, therapy duration, tumor response, disease control rate, and tolerabil-ity were assessed at baseline and at routine follow-ups, and the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) times and rates were analyzed. Results Among all patients, 18 (10.2%) stopped sorafenib treatment for a median of 1.7 weeks, including 15 (8.5%) who discontinued the drug, while 40 (22.6%) and 12 (6.8%) patients required dose reductions and drug interruptions, respectively. Severe adverse events (AEs) or poor compliance was observed in 64 (36.2%) patients, with 118 (7.4%)grade 3 AEs