Preclinical evaluation of sunitinib as a single agent in the prophylactic setting in a mouse model of bone metastases.

Background: A substantial number of breast cancer patients are identified as being at high risk of developing metastatic disease. With increasing number of targeted therapeutics entering clinical trials, chronic administration of these agents may be a feasible approach for the prevention of metastases within this subgroup of patients. In this preclinical study we examined whether sunitinib, a multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor which has anti-angiogenic and anti-resorptive activity, is effective in the prevention of bone metastases.