Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Aug;12(16):16793-16804.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.6301. Epub 2023 Jul 5.

Effectiveness, safety, and impact on quality of life of eribulin-based therapy in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer: A real-world analysis

Xinyu Gui  1 , Xu Liang  1 , Huiping Li  1
Affiliations

Effectiveness, safety, and impact on quality of life of eribulin-based therapy in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer: A real-world analysis

Xinyu Gui et al. Cancer Med. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Eribulin is currently recommended for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) pre-treated with taxanes and anthracyclines. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of eribulin and its impact on health-related quality of life in heavily pre-treated patients with MBC.

Methods: Data from MBC patients who had received eribulin-based therapy at Beijing Cancer Hospital between January 2020 and July 2022 were analyzed retrospectively. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), adverse effects (AEs) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were assessed.

Results: Data from 118 patients who had received eribulin to treat MBC were included. Median PFS was 4.2 months and median OS had not been reached. The ORR was 13.6% (16/118) and DCR was 75.4% (89/118). The median PFS in patients who received eribulin in second-line (26/118), third-line (29/118), or fourth-line or later (63/118) was 4.5, 4.2, and 3.9 months, respectively. The median OS in patients who received eribulin in third- or later line (n = 92) was 14.1 months. Patients who received eribulin combination therapy had a significantly longer median PFS compared with those who received eribulin monotherapy (4.5 vs. 3.4 months, p = 0.007) and there was a trend towards a longer median OS (not reached vs. 12.1 months). The most common grade 3-4 adverse events were neutropenia (22.9%), leukocytopenia (13.6%) and asthenia/fatigue (8.5%), without significant differences in safety between eribulin monotherapy and combination therapy. Quality of life was similar in patients who received eribulin monotherapy and combination therapy, except for cognitive function and nausea and vomiting symptoms, which were better with combination therapy.

Conclusions: The present study suggests that eribulin-based therapy is an effective treatment option and well tolerated for heavily pre-treated patients with MBC. Eribulin combination therapy might improve PFS and HRQoL compared with eribulin monotherapy.

Keywords: eribulin; heavily pre-treated; metastatic breast cancer; real world study.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All the authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Progression‐free survival and overall survival curves of eribulin‐based therapy in different lines in patients with metastatic breast cancer. (A) Progression‐free survival curve of eribulin‐based therapy in different lines in patients with metastatic breast cancer. (B) Overall survival curves of eribulin‐based therapy in different lines in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Progression‐free survival and overall survival curves of eribulin therapy in different subtypes of metastatic breast cancer. (A) Progression‐free survival curve of eribulin therapy in different subtypes of metastatic breast cancer. (B) Overall survival curve of eribulin therapy in different subtypes of metastatic breast cancer.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Progression‐free survival and overall survival curves of eribulin monotherapy and combination therapy in patients with anthracyclines and taxanes pre‐treated metastatic breast cancer. (A) Progressionfree survival curve of eribulin monotherapy (n = 54) and combination therapy (n = 64) in patients with heavily pre‐treated metastatic breast cancer. (B) Overall survival curve of eribulin monotherapy (n = 54) and combination therapy (n = 64) in patients with heavily pre‐treated metastatic breast cancer. (C) Progressionfree survival curve of eribulin monotherapy (n = 54) and eribulin combined with anti‐angiogenic drugs (n = 40) in patients with heavily pre‐treated HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer. (D) Overall survival curve of eribulin monotherapy (n = 54) and eribulin combined with anti‐angiogenic drugs (n = 40) in patients with heavily pre‐treated HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Health Commission of the People's Republic of China N . National guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer 2022 in China (English version). Chin J Cancer Res. 2022;34(3):151‐175. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sun D, Cao M, Li H, He S, Chen W. Cancer burden and trends in China: a review and comparison with Japan and South Korea. Chin J Cancer Res. 2020;32(2):129‐139. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gonzalez‐Angulo AM, Morales‐Vasquez F, Hortobagyi GN. Overview of resistance to systemic therapy in patients with breast cancer. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2007;608:1‐22. - PubMed
    1. Colozza M, de Azambuja E, Personeni N, Lebrun F, Piccart MJ, Cardoso F. Achievements in systemic therapies in the pregenomic era in metastatic breast cancer. Oncologist. 2007;12(3):253‐270. - PubMed
    1. Jordan MA, Kamath K, Manna T, et al. The primary antimitotic mechanism of action of the synthetic halichondrin E7389 is suppression of microtubule growth. Mol Cancer Ther. 2005;4(7):1086‐1095. - PubMed