Sunitinib for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumours

Sunitinib is recommended, within its licensed indication, as a treatment option for people with unresectable and/or metastatic malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumours if:

• imatinib treatment has failed because of resistance or intolerance, and

• the drug cost of sunitinib (excluding any related costs) for the first treatment cycle will be met by the manufacturer.

The use of sunitinib should be supervised by cancer specialists with experience in treating people with unresectable and/or metastatic malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumours after failure of imatinib treatment because of resistance or intolerance.