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NICE recommends Sutent kidney cancer treatment

04 Feb 2009

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended the use of Pfizer''s Sutent (sunitinib malate) as a first-line treatment for individuals suffering from advanced kidney cancer (metastatic renal cell carcinoma).

Sutent first received approval for advanced renal cell carcinoma in 2006. It operates by blocking several molecular targets which have been linked with the growth and spread of cancer.

Garry Nicholoson, president and general manager of the pharmaceutical company''s oncology business unit, said the firm was appreciative of the recommendation from the British health authority.

"Today''s recommendation is an important step forward for kidney cancer patients and also for physicians in the UK who now have a proven treatment option for this difficult-to treat cancer," he added.

At the end of January, it was announced Pfizer is to acquire Wyeth in a transaction valued at around $68 billion (£47.2 billion), after both companies'' boards of directors approved the move.