Background Eribulin has recently been indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have progressed after at least one chemotherapeutic regimen for advanced disease. However, eribulin use in our hospital is still limited to patients who have previously received two treatment lines for metastatic disease, including taxanes and anthracyclines (as adjuvant or metastatic setting).

Purpose To evaluate the prescription pattern of eribulin in a tertiary care hospital.

Material and methods A retrospective and observational study was conducted in our hospital. Patients who received at least one dose of eribulin, from February 2014 until September 2015, were included. Data were obtained from the computerised physician order entry system. A data collection form was designed to record patient’s demographics, diagnosis, previous and concomitant treatments, performance status (PS), number of doses, progression free survival (PFS), response rates and toxicity.

Results 11 women patients were included. Mean age was 58.7 years (range 43–72). All presented with metastatic breast cancer involving a median of three metastatic sites, PS was ≤1, positive hormone receptors and 4/11 were HER2 positive.

All patients received eribulin after taxanes and anthracyclines, except for two patients who did not receive anthracyclines due to major contradication. In addition, one HER2+ patient received trastuzumab concomitantly.

Eribulin was prescribed as third-line treatment for metastatic disease in 5/11 patients, fourth-line in 2/11, fifth-line in 1/11 and ≥6 line in 3/11.

4 women are still receiving treatment. Among patients who stopped treatment, a mean of 11.3 doses were administered and median PFS was 4.7 months. Response rates were: no response (1/11), dissociative response-progression but clinical improvement (1/11), stable disease (2/11), partial response (4/11), not assessable (3/11).

Dose was reduced or postponed in 7/11 patients due mostly to neutropenia. The major cause of treatment discontinuation was progression of disease (only in one case was eribulin stopped due to gastrointestinal toxicity).

Conclusion Eribulin was prescribed according the approved hospital criteria. Eribulin was well tolerated. Median PFS in evaluable patients was 4.7 months, which is similar to the results obtained in EMBRACE and E7389-G000–301 studies (3.7 and 4.1 months, respectively).

References and/or Acknowledgements

1. Cortes, et al. EMBRACE. Lancet 377:914–23

2. Kaufman, et al. Study 301. Cancer Res 72(24 Suppl):abstract S6–6

References and/or AcknowledgementsNo conflict of interest.