Abstract
This retrospective multicenter analysis was aimed to evaluate clinical activity and tolerability of eribulin in pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients in clinical practice. Patients treated with eribulin from January 2012 to July 2013 were enrolled in the observational study from 10 italian hospitals. Tumor and toxicity evaluation were performed according to Agenzia Italiana Farmaco. One-hundred and thirteen patients were included in the study. Median age 62 years old. 71.7 % of the patients had visceral involvement and the majority had a burden of disease involving two or more organs with a median number of 2 (1–6). The median number of previous chemotherapy regimens for advanced disease was 3 (1–10). Median number of eribulin cycles was 4 (1–27). Overall response rate was 24 % (95 % CI 16.0–31.8). Clinical benefit rate, was 35.4 % (95 % CI 26.6–44.2). At a median follow-up of 29.6 months (8.3–41.9) the median progression free survival was 3.3 months (0.6–26.7; 95 % CI 2.4–4.2), and the median overall survival 11.6 months (0.6–33.3; 95 % CI 8.7–14.5). No correlation was recorded between subtypes in terms of ORR and CBR. Toxicity was manageable. Main common grade 3–4 toxicities were neutropenia (19.4 %), febrile neutropenia (0.9 %), asthenia (3.5 %), abnormal liver function test (1.8 %), stomatitis (0.9 %). Our results confirm that treatment with eribulin is feasible and safe in real-world patients.
Highlights
Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) remains an incurable disease despite considerable progress and new treatment options
Chemotherapy is indicated in hormone-receptor positive breast cancer that is refractory to endocrine therapy, is a companion for anti-HER2 agents and as is the only registered treatment for so called “triple-negative” breast cancers, which lack hormone-receptor and HER2 expression
Seventy-six patients (67.2 %) had further treatments after progression: 22 patients (19.5 %) received endocrine therapy, 54 patients (47.8 %) were exposed to chemotherapy and the remaining 37 patients (32.7 %) received best supportive care. In this retrospective analysis, we studied patterns of use and clinical activity of eribulin in patients treated with this drug as a standard of care after it became available in our Country
Summary
Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) remains an incurable disease despite considerable progress and new treatment options. Chemotherapy is indicated in hormone-receptor positive breast cancer that is refractory to endocrine therapy, is a companion for anti-HER2 agents and as is the only registered treatment for so called “triple-negative” breast cancers, which lack hormone-receptor and HER2 expression. MBC patients may derive sustained benefits from the administration of several lines of Garrone et al SpringerPlus (2016) 5:59 chemotherapy. Efforts are still concentrated on increasing the list of the available chemotherapy agents, in order to have more effective and well-tolerated options that could prolong the life expectancy of MBC patients
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