Dovitinib is an oral multikinase inhibitor targeting FGF receptors, PDGF receptors and VEGF receptors. Its activity against FGF receptors suggests its usefulness in treating cancers after the failure of VEGF/VEGF receptor-targeting agents. The identified dose and schedule to be used in further studies was 500 mg orally for 5 days on and 2 days off. Biological considerations and the results achieved in a Phase I/II trial suggested its activity in advanced renal cell carcinoma patients pretreated with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor and an mTOR inhibitor. Surprisingly, in a randomized controlled Phase III trial versus sorafenib in the same setting, dovitinib failed to demonstrate any superiority. At present, dovitinib is being tested in different tumor types. However, molecular-based patient selection seems to be key to fully exploit the activity of this drug.
Keywords: FGFR inhibitor; VEGFR inhibitor; dovitinib; drug development; renal cell carcinoma.