Sitravatinib (MGCD516) is an experimental drug for the treatment of cancer. It is a small molecule inhibitor of multiple

tyrosine kinase A tyrosine kinase is an enzyme that can transfer a phosphate group from ATP to the tyrosine residues of specific proteins inside a cell. It functions as an "on" or "off" switch in many cellular functions. Tyrosine kinases belong to a larger cla ...

s. Sitravatinib is being developed by

Mirati Therapeutics Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. is an American targeted oncology company that focuses on the development of cancer therapeutics. Bristol Myers Squibb acquired the company in January 2024. History Mirati Therapeutics works largely in KRAS-mutation inhi ...

. Ongoing

phase II trial The phases of clinical research are the stages in which scientists conduct experiments with a health intervention to obtain sufficient evidence for a process considered effective as a medical treatment. For drug development, the clinical phases ...

s include a trial for liposarcoma, a combination trial for

non-small cell lung cancer Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or non-small-cell lung carcinoma, is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitiv ...

, and a combination trial with

nivolumab Nivolumab, sold under the brand name Opdivo, is an anti-cancer medication in the class of immune checkpoint inhibitors. It selectively binds and blocks the programmed death-1 (PD-1) receptor on T cells, thereby facilitating their activation ...

for

renal cell carcinoma Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a kidney cancer that originates in the lining of the Proximal tubule, proximal convoluted tubule, a part of the very small tubes in the kidney that transport primary urine. RCC is the most common type of kidney cance ...

. Sitravatinib is being evaluated in ongoing trials in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, including in a combination trial with nivolumab in those who are resistant to

checkpoint inhibitor Checkpoint inhibitor therapy is a form of Treatment of cancer, cancer immunotherapy. The therapy targets immune checkpoints, key regulators of the immune system that when stimulated can dampen the immune response to an immunologic stimulus. Some ca ...

therapy, and certain patients who are naïve to checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

References

{{Targeted cancer therapeutic agents Experimental cancer drugs Tyrosine kinase inhibitors