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. 2025 Jun 6:15:1499701.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1499701. eCollection 2025.

Efficacy and safety of Eribulin-based chemotherapy in HER2 negative advanced breast cancer patients: a real-world study

Yuting Li #  1   2   3 , Dan Han #  1   2   3 , Ting Hu  1   2   3 , Jie Xiong  1   2   3 , Yuehua Wang  4 , Yanxia Zhao  1   2   3
Affiliations

Efficacy and safety of Eribulin-based chemotherapy in HER2 negative advanced breast cancer patients: a real-world study

Yuting Li et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is recognized as one of the most common cancers worldwide, exhibiting a notably high incidence rate among women in China. Despite significant advancements in therapeutic approaches, the prognosis for patients diagnosed with advanced stages of the disease remains poor. Therefore, there is an urgent necessity to investigate the effectiveness and safety of treatments such as Eribulin, a non-taxane microtubule inhibitor that is recommended for use beyond second-line therapy.

Methods: This retrospective multicenter study assessed 105 patients with HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who received Eribulin treatment from 2020 to 2023.

Results: With a median follow-up of 13.3 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 6.0 months. Patients on early-line Eribulin had a significantly longer PFS (6.7 vs. 4.9 months, P = 0.038) than those on later lines. Combination therapy tended toward longer PFS than monotherapy (6.4 vs. 4.9 months; P = 0.319), albeit non-significantly. Combinations with PD-1 inhibitors or chemotherapy had a higher PFS than those with anti-angiogenic agents (P = 0.022). Among ER-negative patients in the combination therapy subgroup, HER2-zero tumors had a significantly longer PFS than HER2-low tumors (9.5 vs. 4.1 months, P = 0.026). The most frequently observed adverse events were hematological toxicity, with the majority classified as manageable in severity.

Conclusion: The findings emphasize the potential of Eribulin in the treatment of HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, highlighting the need for further large-scale, prospective studies to refine and enhance treatment strategies.

Keywords: Eribulin; HER2-low; breast cancer; combination therapy; progression-free survival.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier curves for progression-free survival (PFS) in the patients receiving Eribulin-based chemotherapy. (A) All patients. (B) Comparison of PFS between patients receiving Eribulin as first- or second-line therapy versus Later lines. (C) Comparison of PFS between patients receiving combination as first- or second-line therapy versus Later lines. (D) Comparison of PFS between patients receiving Eribulin monotherapy as first- or second-line therapy versus Later lines.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan-Meier curve of progression-free survival (PFS) of patients treated with different regimens. (A) PFS in patients receiving Eribulin alone or combined with other drugs. (B) PFS in patients receiving Eribulin combined with anti-angiogenesis drugs, PD-1 inhibitor, or other chemotherapy drugs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Kaplan-Meier curves of progression-free survival (PFS) in HER2-zero versus HER2-low patients. (A) All patients. (B) Patients received Eribulin alone. (C) Patients receiving Eribulin combined with other drugs. (D) ER-negative patients receiving Eribulin combined with other drugs.
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