Hypothesis: Malignant mesotheliomas (MMs) express vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor, and cKIT. Sorafenib is a potent inhibitor of the ras/raf/MEK pathway and also targets VEGFR and cKIT. We evaluated the activity of sorafenib in patients with unresectable mesothelioma.
Methods: MM patients who had received 0 to 1 prior chemotherapy regimens were treated with sorafenib 400 mg orally twice daily continuously. The primary end point was objective response. ERK1/2 phosphorylation in archival tissues was correlated with response and survival.
Results: A total of 51 patients were enrolled, 50 were evaluable and included in the analysis. Three patients had a partial response (6% [95% confidence interval = 1.3-16.6%]), and 27 (54% [95% confidence interval = 39.3-68.2%]) had stable disease. Median progression-free survival and median overall survival (OS) were 3.6 and 9.7 months, respectively. Median survival was superior in epithelioid histology versus other types (10.7 versus 3.7 months, p = 0.0179). The difference in median OS between pretreated and chemonaive patients was not statistically significant (13.2 versus 5 months, p = 0.3117). Low/negative baseline tumor phospho-ERK1/2 levels were associated with improved OS (13.9 versus 5.2 months, p = 0.0066).
Conclusion: Sorafenib has limited activity in advanced MM patients, similar to that seen with other VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Additional studies of sorafenib in MM are not warranted.