Dr. Twelves Compares Eribulin and Capecitabine

Christopher Twelves, MD, Professor and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology, University of Leeds, discusses results from a phase III trial that compared capecitabine to eribulin mesylate in earlier lines of treatment for women with metastatic breast cancer.

Capecitabine is the current standard in early-line treatments for metastatic breast cancer. Eribulin had a great challenge to overcome, since it was compared to what is consider one of the best drugs in this circumstance, explains Twelves.

The trial showed trends toward the superiority of eribulin in this setting but the results were still considered to be statistically negative, states Twelves. In the trial, overall survival was increased by 15.9 months with eribulin compared to 14.5 months for capecitabine with a P value of .305.

The seemingly superior nature of eribulin in these patients prompted further investigation into subpopulation analyses. Overall, HER2-positive patients did not benefit from eribulin while those with HER2- and ER-negative tumors responded well to eribulin. Twelves notes that patients with triple-negative breast cancer seemed to benefit substantially more from treatment with eribulin compared to capecitabine, warranting further study.

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