Reshma L. Mahtani, DO:I think the benefits of eribulin in this patient are really illustrated well by the EMBRACE study. This study was an open-label phase III study in which approximately 700 patients, who had had at least 2 prior lines of chemotherapy in the metastatic setting and had been exposed to an anthracycline and a taxane in the adjuvant or metastatic setting, were randomized to eribulin at a dose of 1.4 mg/m2on days 1 and 8 every 21 days, or treatment of physician’s choice, which on the whole included chemotherapy treatment options. Those patients who were treated on the study showed an improvement in overall survival of about 2-and-a-half months associated with the use eribulin as opposed to physician’s choice chemotherapy.
I think these results are quite meaningful. As I mentioned, overall survival is an ambitious endpoint for any clinical trial. It’s tough to show a survival benefit in breast cancer mainly because patients live for many years and are exposed to multiple therapies after progression. This was very clinically meaningful for me to see a therapy that is associated with a survival benefit. In terms of tolerability, I would say that the therapy does offer certain advantages. It’s very quick. There’s a 5-minute infusion time that doesn’t require premedication and allows for patients to get in and out quickly from the infusion center. It’s a single agent, as mentioned. Given the balance of efficacy and toxicity, I would say that it’s been a therapy I’ve used quite a bit in my practice, especially in patients who have triple-negative disease.
The 301 study was a study that looked at the use of capecitabine versus eribulin in the metastatic setting for patients who had received 1, 2, or 3 lines of therapy. Overall, the study did not show a benefit to eribulin over capecitabine, although there was definitely a trend noted. When a subgroup analysis was done, it was shown that the patients who were triple-negative did have a benefit approximately on the order of 5 months over capecitabine with the use of eribulin. On this basis, I’ve tended to incorporate eribulin into my practice for patients with triple-negative disease earlier on if I can get it covered. The label indication is after 2 prior lines of chemotherapy in the metastatic setting. That being said, I think these data are meaningful to consider earlier use if insurance is not an issue.
Transcript edited for clarity.
A 55-year-old Woman With Advanced TNBC
June 2015
October 2017
May 2018
August 2018
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