Sunitinib works by inhibiting multiple receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), which are crucial for the proliferation, survival, and metastasis of cancer cells. Some of the key RTKs that sunitinib targets include the vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs), platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs), and KIT. By inhibiting these receptors, sunitinib effectively disrupts tumor angiogenesis, thereby starving the tumor of nutrients and oxygen, and also directly inhibits cancer cell growth.
