Pazopanib is used for the treatment of kidney cancer. This is a prescription already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The drug is a white to slightly yellow solid. It is very slightly soluble at pH 1 and practically insoluble above pH 4 in aqueous media. Each is available in a 200 mg tablet.

Kidney cancer can rarely causes signs or symptoms in its early stages. In the later stages, kidney cancer signs and symptoms may include:
• Pain in your back or side that doesn’t go away
• Blood in your urine, which may appear pink, red or cola colored
• Unexplained weight loss
• Loss of appetite
• Tiredness
• Fever that usually comes and goes
This condition begins in the kidneys. Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs. Each is about the size of your fist. They’re located behind your abdominal organs with one kidney on each side of your spine. In adults, renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer. Other less common types of kidney cancer can occur. Young children are more likely to develop a kind of kidney cancer called Wilms’ tumor.

Factors that can increase the risk of kidney cancer include:
• Obesity – People who are obese have a higher risk of kidney cancer than people who are considered average weight.
• Older age – your risk of kidney cancer increases as you age.
• High blood pressure – this increases your risk of kidney cancer.
• Smoking – smokers have a greater risk of kidney cancer than nonsmokers do. The risk decreases after you quit.
• Treatment for kidney failure – People who receive long-term dialysis to treat chronic kidney failure have a greater risk of developing kidney cancer.
• Family history of kidney cancer – even in the absence of an inherited syndrome, people who have a strong family history of renal cell cancer have a greater risk of kidney cancer.
• Certain inherited syndromes – people who are born with certain inherited syndromes may have an increased risk of kidney cancer.
• Exposure to certain substances in the workplace -This might include exposure to cadmium or specific herbicides.

How does Pazopanib work?
The way that cells in the body work and grow is regulated by various enzymes called protein kinases. These enzymes can be found in certain receptors on the surface of cells that are involved in the growth and spread of cancer cells.

Pazopanib is a type of medicine known as a protein kinase inhibitor. It works by interfering with the pathways that signal certain cancer cells to grow. In cancerous cells, the kinases make the cells multiply abnormally. They also stimulate nearby blood vessels to grow into the tumor.
The new blood vessels allow the cancer cells to multiply by supplying them with oxygen and nutrients. They also allow the cancerous cells to spread into other areas of the body through the blood circulation. Pazopanib attaches to a certain receptors on cancer cells and cells in blood vessel walls. It blocks the action of the protein kinases. This stops the signals that tell the cancer cells to grow and multiply. It also stops blood vessels growing into the tumor. These effects stop the tumor from growing.

How to use Pazopanib?
Dosage is based on your medical condition, laboratory tests, response to treatment, and other medications you may be taking. Take this medication by mouth usually once daily. Each dose may be taken without a meal as directed by your doctor. It is very important to take this medication on an empty stomach or at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after food. Swallow this medication as a whole. Do not chew, crush, or break the tablets. Doing so can release all of the drug at once which also increases the risk of side effects. Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while taking this medication. Consult your doctor for more details.

Do not increase your dose or take this drug more often than prescribed. Your condition will not improve any faster, and your risk of serious side effects will increase. Use this medication regularly to get the most benefit from it. To help you remember, take it at the same time each day. Follow the instructions of your doctor very carefully.

What are the side effects of Pazopanib?
Common side effects:
• Headache
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Altered sense of taste
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Numbness or redness in hands/feet
• Changes in hair or skin color
• Joint or muscle pain
• Feeling tired or weak
• Fatigue
• High blood pressure
• Tumor pain
• Stomach or abdominal pain
• Shortness of breath
• Peeling rash
• Cough
• Swelling of extremities
• Mouth sores
• Hair loss
• Dizziness
• Chest pain
• Swelling of the night and mouth or lips

Stop using this drug and call your doctor at once if you have:
• Unusual bleeding or bruising
• Slow healing of a wound or surgical incision, or any wound that will not heal
• Sudden chest pain or discomfort, wheezing, dry cough
• Headache
• Confusion
• Change in mental status
• Vision loss
• Seizure

Warnings and Precaution
• You blood pressure should be regularly monitored while you are taking this medicine. If your blood pressure increases you may need to take medicines to reduce it.
• The function of your heart should be monitored with ECG before starting and during treatment with this medicine. Pazopanib can affect the functioning of the heart, especially the heart rhythm.
• This medicine can sometimes cause liver problems that may very rarely become life-threatening. For this reason, your doctor will want you to have blood tests to check your liver function before you start treatment.
• This medicine may affect your ability to get pregnant or father a child. It is important to discuss fertility with your doctor before treatment with this medicine is started.
• This should be used carefully in people with mild or moderately decreased liver function, with a low level of magnesium in their blood, those at increased risk of bleeding due to surgery, or who have previously had a perforation or fistula in their gut.
• This medicine is not recommended for children and adolescents under 18 years of age.