A recent study, published in the journal Advances in Medicine and Medical Research, suggests that the presence of hand-foot syndrome in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after the first cycle of treatment with sunitinib predicts longer progression-free survival.

Median progression-free survival was 9.8 months in those patients who did not experience hand-foot syndrome after treatment with sunitinib. In the 20% of patients who developed hand-foot syndrome after the first sunitinib treatment cycle, progression-free survival was extended beyond the observation period of 60 months, and survival calculation was impossible.

The researchers emphasise the importance of monitoring skin toxicity during treatment with sunitinib and other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). In patients treated with TKIs, the development of adverse skin symptoms is indicative of better outcomes in metastatic RCC patients.

Read more in Advances in Medicine and Medical Research here