Abstract
PurposeThe aim of this study was to confirm the therapeutic role of eribulin on Taiwanese women with metastatic breast cancer.MethodsThis retrospective study examined 449 females who received eribulin between March 2014 and June 2017 at 14 hospitals in Taiwan for treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.ResultsThe survival rate at 24 months was 57.2% (95% CI 51.0–62.9%) and the median time to treatment failure (TTF) was 3.91 months (95% CI 3.45–3.94). A total of 175 patients (40.1%) received eribulin for fewer than 90 days and the others received it for 90 days or more. Eight patients (1.83%) had complete remission, 82 (18.8%) had partial remission, 202 (46.3%) had stable disease, and 144 (33.0%) had progressive disease (PD). Patients’ tumors with the luminal A subtype had a significantly better objective response rate. Kaplan–Meier analysis indicated that hormone receptor positivity, luminal A subtype, receipt of eribulin as the 1st to 3rd line therapy, and metastasis to fewer than 4 organs were significantly associated with longer TTF. Stepwise multivariate analysis showed that only receipt of eribulin as the 1st to 3rd line therapy was significantly associated with TTF (HR 1.49, p < 0.001). All toxicities were manageable and only 18 patients (4.1%) discontinued treatment due to adverse events.ConclusionsEribulin appears to have better efficacy and cause fewer adverse events, especially neutropenia, in Taiwanese women than Western women.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, and approximately 10% of newly diagnosed cases are stage IV [1]
The time to treatment failure (TTF) was defined as the period from the first dose of eribulin to cancelation for any reason, or was censored at the date of last follow-up for surviving patients remaining on treatment which will be presented as mean with 95% confidence interval (CI)
In Watanabe et al [13], they reported a post-marketing observational study in Japanese patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, of these, 671 patients were included in the effectiveness analysis
Summary
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, and approximately 10% of newly diagnosed cases are stage IV (metastatic) [1]. Several treatments are available for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), but none of them are curative treatments, so these patients. Extended author information available on the last page of the article tend to have poor long-term survival rates, with median survival times of 18–24 months [2]. The goals of most treatments of these patients are palliation and improvement in the quality of life. Taxanes and anthracyclines are the standard adjuvant and first-line treatments for women with MBC, but these treatments are not always successful due to the development of drug resistance [3]. It is difficult to treat patients after failure of these therapies, and there are no established regimens for subsequent treatment
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