Purpose: The objective of this article is to summarize the knowledge as for the side effects related to axitinib in terms of incidence, etiology and symptoms for the effects requiring a specific management.
Methods: This article follows upon the recommendations for the clinical practice, published in 2011, which detailed the management of secondary specific toxicities related to targeted therapies prescribed for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma with a focus on axitinib.
Synthesis: Overall, the toxicity profile of axitinib is better the other tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The ENT side effects and polycythemia, which had not been initially described with other molecules, seem more frequent. Regarding management and follow-up of side effects with axitinib, as for the other targeted therapies used in metastatic renal carcinoma, there are no crucial changes since the recommendations of 2011.
Conclusion: The management of side effects remains similar to the recommendations published in 2011. Only preventive measures and management of ENT side effects and polycythemia must be integrated in new thesaurus.
Keywords: axitinib; metastatic renal cell carcinoma; recommendations; side effects; tyrosine kinase inhibitors.