Eribulin in Heavily Pretreated Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients in the Real World: A Retrospective Study

OBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to investigate efficacy and safety of eribulin in heavily pretreated patients with advanced breast cancer (BC) in a real-life setting.

METHODS:
This retrospective monocentric study included patients with HER-2-negative metastatic BC, pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes, who were referred to the Oncology Department of Spedali Civili of Brescia from May 2012 to April 2017. Patients received the same dose of eribulin as that used in the EMBRACE trial: 1.4 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8 every 21 days.

RESULTS:
In a total of 53 patients, 32% obtained a partial response, 11% a stable disease, and 43% a clinical benefit (CB). After a median follow-up of 36 months, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.7 months and median overall survival (OS) 13.53 months. Median PFS was significantly longer in patients who reported a CB compared to those with no CB, while survival outcomes (PFS and OS) were better in patients who received > 6 cycles of eribulin. Eribulin showed a good tolerability profile with acceptable toxicities, similar to those reported in EMBRACE.

CONCLUSIONS:
Our experience in a real-world setting confirms the activity, efficacy, and good tolerability profile of eribulin in heavily pretreated BC patients.