Eribulin Effective in Metastatic Breast Cancer January 21, 2015 LEBANON, NH -- January 21, 2015 -- A study published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology demonstrated that, while not superior to capecitabine, eribulin is an active and well-tolerated therapy in women with metastatic breast cancer receiving this therapy as a first-, second-, or third-line chemotherapy. The study is the first to address the use of eribulin early in the course of metastatic breast cancer, specifically either the first or second-line setting. “Additionally, it is of great interest that subset analysis suggests that eribulin may be particularly active and effective in triple negative MBC, which is known to be an aggressive subset of breast cancer, and one associated unfortunately with a particularly poor prognosis overall,” said Peter A. Kaufman, MD, Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Lebanon, New Hampshire. Eribulin has been approved in numerous countries as third-line therapy for metastatic breast cancer, and is increasingly widely used. It is the only chemotherapeutic agent shown to have a survival benefit for patients with metastatic breast cancer in the third line or latter chemotherapeutic setting. Given previous research findings, and now findings from this large international trial, there has been great interest from oncologists and other clinicians in the potential impact that eribulin might have earlier in the course of MBC. In the current phase 3 study, researcher randomised 1,099 women with metastatic breast cancer who had previously been treated with an anthracycline or a taxane to either eribulin or capecitabine as their first-, second-, or third-line chemotherapy. Stratification factors were human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) status and geographic region. Co-primary endpoints were overall survival and progression-free survival. “While there is not a statistically significant difference in overall survival with eribulin in comparison to capecitabine, the median overall survival seen with eribulin is in fact numerically slightly superior to that of capecitabine,” said Dr Kaufman. “We are currently developing further studies evaluating the utility of eribulin in treating women with triple negative disease, either alone, or in combination regimens with other therapies,” he added. “We are additionally planning further research evaluating the role of eribulin in other subtypes of breast cancer, particularly in early stage breast cancer, where this therapy may in fact have a great impact, and improve the cure rate for early stage
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 07:53:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015