Eribulin Not Superior to Capecitabine for Previously Treated Breast Cancer

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers have found that eribulin mesylate is not superior to capecitabine for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who were previously treated with an anthracycline and a taxane.

In this open label, phase 3 study, researchers sought to compare the efficacy of eribulin mesylate versus capecitabine for advanced/metastatic breast cancer.

Researchers enrolled 1,102 women with metastatic breast cancer who had previously received anthracycline- and taxane-based therapy and randomly assigned them to receive either eribulin or capecitabine as their first-, second-, or third-line chemotherapy for advanced disease.

Results showed median overall survival times of 15.9 months and 14.5 months for eribulin and capecitabine, respectively (HR = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.77 - 1.00; P = 0.056). Median progression-free survival times were 4.1 months for the eribulin arm and 4.2 months for the capecitabine arm (HR = 1.08; 95% CI: 0.93 - 1.25; P = 0.30). 

In addition, the eribulin group had an 11.0% objective response rate compared with 11.5% in the capecitabine group. Researchers also found that both treatments had manageable safety profiles.