Safety Pharmacology of Anticancer Agents

The safety pharmacology testing for anticancer agents has historically differed for small molecule pharmaceutical drugs versus large-molecule biopharmaceuticals. For pharmaceutical drugs, dedicated safety pharmacology studies have been conducted according to the ICH M3 (R2), ICH 7A, and ICH S7B guidance documents. For biopharmaceuticals, safety pharmacology endpoints have been incorporated into the repeated-dose toxicology studies according to ICHS6 (R1). However, the introduction of the ICH S9 guidance document for the nonclinical evaluation for anticancer pharmaceuticals has allowed for a streamlined approach for both types of molecules to facilitate access of new potential therapeutics to cancer patients and to reduce the number of animal studies. Examples of the testing strategies that have previously been employed for some representative anticancer agents are provided, and their predictivity to adverse events noted in the clinic is discussed.