Survival data and clinical study conclusions of patients taking axitinib (Inlida)

Axitinib is an oral small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that mainly targets vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR) 1, 2, and 3 and is highly selective. It is widely used in patients with advanced and metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), especially those who have failed first- or second-line treatments, and can significantly delay disease progression and improve survival prognosis for some patients. Axitinib inhibits tumor angiogenesis by blocking the VEGFR signaling pathway, thereby inhibiting tumor growth and metastasis. This mechanism makes it one of the important drugs for anti-angiogenesis treatment in clinical practice.

In early phase II clinical studies, axitinib was used as first-line treatment for patients with mRCC and showed high objective response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS). Research data shows that the ORR of the axitinib treatment group reaches approximately 66%, and the median PFS can be extended to 27.6 months, which shows that axitinib can effectively delay disease progression. In the Japanese patient population, after a median follow-up of 33 months, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were 86.4%, 75.0%, and 68.2%, respectively; the corresponding survival rates for non-Japanese patients were 75.1%, 62.1%, and 47.2%. These data suggest that axitinib shows good efficacy and tolerability in different populations, providing a reliable basis for clinical use.

In the second-line treatment, a phase III clinical study comparing axitinib with sorafenib showed that the median PFS in the axitinib group was 6.7 months, while that in the sorafenib group was 4.7 months. Although the median overall survival (OS) of the two groups did not show a significant difference, axitinib had a clear advantage in delaying disease progression. In addition, the axitinib treatment regimen is generally well tolerated, and most adverse reactions are manageable hypertension, hand-foot syndrome, and thyroid dysfunction, suggesting that patients need to regularly monitor blood pressure, liver and kidney function, and blood routine while receiving treatment.
In recent years, research on the combined use of axitinib and immune checkpoint inhibitors has also made certain progress. For example, clinical trials of axitinib combined with avelumab showed that the median PFS was 13.8 months, while the sunitinib monotherapy group was 8.4 months, suggesting that the combination can further delay disease progression. However, the median overall survival was not significantly different between the two groups, indicating that the potential of combination therapy to improve survival prognosis still needs more data to support. In addition, the types and frequency of adverse reactions have increased with combination treatment regimens, requiring individualized assessment and close monitoring in clinical application.
Overall, axitinib has shown good clinical efficacy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, especially in delaying disease progression and improving progression-free survival. Monotherapy is suitable for some patients who have failed previous first- or second-line treatments, and combined immunotherapy may further optimize the efficacy. While using axitinib, patients should strictly follow medical instructions for dose management, combined with regular imaging evaluation and laboratory monitoring, to ensure efficacy while reducing the risk of adverse reactions. In the future, with the release of more clinical trial results, the role of axitinib in different treatment stages and combination regimens will be further clarified, providing patients with more precise and personalized treatment options.
Reference: https://www.drugs.com/