The Adverse Effects of Sorafenib in Patients with Advanced Cancers

Sorafenib is the first multi‐kinase inhibitor (TKI) approved for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and metastatic renal cell cancer (RCC) and is increasingly being used to treat patients with well‐differentiated radioiodine‐resistant thyroid cancer (DTC). Sorafenib demonstrates targeted activity on several families of receptor and non‐receptor tyrosine kinases that are involved in angiogenesis, tumour growth and metastatic progression of cancer. Sorafenib treatment results in long‐term efficacy and low incidence of life‐threatening toxicities. Although sorafenib has demonstrated many benefits in patients, the adverse effects cannot be ignored. The most common treatment‐related toxicities include diarrhoea, fatigue, hand–foot skin reaction and hypertension. Most of these toxicities are considered mild to moderate and manageable to varying degrees; however, cardiovascular events might lead to death. In this MiniReview, we summarize the adverse effects of sorafenib that commonly occur in patients with advanced cancers.