Hand-foot skin reaction is associated with the clinical outcome in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sorafenib.

Background: To elucidate whether Hand-Foot skin reaction could become a biomarker of clinical outcome in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sorafenib, we retrospectively examined the association between the Hand-Foot skin reaction and the clinical outcome in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with sorafenib.

Methods: Thirty-six Japanese metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with sorafenib were enrolled and divided into the groups with or without Hand-Foot skin reaction. Patient characteristics, best tumor response, progression-free survival and adverse events were investigated and compared between these two groups.

Results: A sorafenib-induced Hand-Foot skin reaction in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients was observed at a significantly higher rate in patients in the favorable-risk group in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center risk classification, and with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status of one or less, prior nephrectomy, higher hemoglobin, lower lactate dehydrogenase and lower C-reactive protein. The mean best tumor response was significantly better in the group with Hand-Foot skin reaction (-16.7%) than that in the group without it (17.9%; P < 0.001). The median progression-free survival was significantly longer in the group with Hand-Foot skin reaction (4.6 months) than that in the group without it (1.5 months; P = 0.002). In multivariate analysis, only Hand-Foot skin reaction was shown to be a predictive factor of progression-free survival (hazard ratio 0.312, P = 0.010).

Conclusions: A sorafenib-induced Hand-Foot skin reaction in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients emerged at a significantly higher rate in patients in the favorable-risk group in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center risk classification and was significantly associated with best tumor response and progression-free survival, suggesting that Hand-Foot skin reaction might be an independent predictive factor for clinical outcome in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with sorafenib.