Blood-Based Biomarkers of SU11248 Activity and Clinical Outcome in Patients with Metastatic Imatinib-Resistant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor

Abstract

Monocytes, VEGF, and sVEGFR-2 were consistently modulated by treatment, suggesting that they may serve as pharmacodynamic markers for SU11248. Changes in CECs and monocytes, but not the plasma markers, differed between the patients with clinical benefit and those with progressive disease. These end points merit further investigation in future trials to determine their utility as markers of SU11248 activity and clinical benefit in gastrointestinal stromal tumors and other tumor types.