ecessary. Your doctor will discuss with you the potential risk of taking SUTENT during pregnancy.
If you might get pregnant, you should use effective contraception during treatment with SUTENT.
If you are breast-feeding, tell your doctor. Do not breast-feed during treatment with SUTENT.
Driving and using machines
If you experience dizziness or you feel unusually tired, take special care when driving or using machines.
How is it used?
Your doctor will prescribe a dose that is right for you, depending on the type of cancer to be treated. If you are being treated for GIST or renal cancer, the usual dose is 50 mg once daily taken for 28 days (4 weeks), followed by 14 days (2 weeks) of rest (no medicine), given as a 6-weeks cycle. If you are being treated for pNET, the usual dose is 37.5 mg once daily without a rest period. Your doctor will determine how many cycles of treatment you will need as well as the appropriate dose you need to take.
Always take SUTENT exactly as your doctor has told you. You should check with your doctor if you are not sure.
If you take more SUTENT than you should
If you have accidentally taken too many capsules, talk to your doctor straight away. You may require medical attention.
If you forget to take SUTENT
Do not take a double dose to make up for a forgotten dose.
What are possible side effects?
Like all medicines, SUTENT can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.
These side effects may occur with certain frequencies, which are defined as follows: very common: affects more than 1 user in 10
common: affects 1 to 10 users in 100
uncommon: affects 1 to 10 users in 1,000
rare: affects 1 to 10 users in 10,000
very rare: affects less than 1 user in 10,000
not known: frequency cannot be estimated from the available data.
Very common side effects
Common side effects
Uncommon side effects
Rare side effect
Non Known
If any of the side effect gets serious or if you notice any side effect not listed in this leaflet, please tell your doctor.
How should it be stored?
Medicines should not be disposed of via wastewater or household waste. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medicines no longer required. These measures will help to protect the environment.
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For doctors
What is it?
Sutent is a medicine that contains the active substance sunitinib. It is available as capsules (orange: 12.5 mg; caramel and orange: 25 mg; yellow: 37.5 mg; caramel: 50 mg).
What is it used for?
Sutent is used to treat adults with the following types of cancer:

The medicine can only be obtained with a prescription.
How is it used?
Treatment with Sutent should be started by doctors who have experience in administering anticancer medicines.
For GIST and metastatic renal cell carcinoma, Sutent is given in six-week cycles, at a dose of 50 mg once a day for four weeks, followed by a two-week ‘rest period’. The dose can be adjusted according to the patient’s response to the treatment, but should be kept within the range of 25 to 75 mg.
For pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, Sutent is given at a dose of 37.5 mg once a day without a rest period. This dose may also be adjusted.
How does it work?
The active substance in Sutent, sunitinib, is a protein kinase inhibitor. This means that it blocks some specific enzymes known as protein kinases. These enzymes can be found in some receptors at the surface of cancer cells, where they