Colorectal cancer: response to sunitinib in a heavily pretreated colorectal cancer patient.

A 64-year-old man was admitted to the emergency room in May 2000 due to pelvic pain, functional disability of the lower limb, and bleeding from a rectal fistula. The patient was diagnosed with a rectum-sigma adenocarcinoma (pT1 N0M0 stage). After surgery by left hemicholectomy, the patient received adjuvant chemotherapy with tegafur for 6 months. Due to the development of subsequent recurrences (infravesical relapse, bone and lung progression) associated with CEA progression and pain worsening, the patient received treatment by every available agent for the metastatic colorectal cancer, including oxaliplatin and radiotherapy; irinotecan; FOLFOX schema; oral capecitabine; raltitrexed; irinotecan and cetuximab; cetuximab as a single agent; always in combination with zolendronic acid-based treatment for pain control. Once the patient had progressed to all the approved drugs available in the market, sunitinib (50 mg/day given for 4 weeks followed by 2 weeks of rest) was proposed as compassionate use. The patient received sunitinib for a total of 6 months (four cycles). On account of the nonmeasurable disease nature of the metastatic presentation in the present case, the clinical benefit was measured in terms of reduction of painkiller intake, improvement in performance status of the patient, and CEA serum levels. In addition to all of these clinical and biological data, CT images showed an increase in necrotic area of the bone lesion without any decrease in tumor size by classical RECIST criteria. The patient is still under sunitinib treatment and has recovered his normal daily activity.