Efficacy, safety and cost of eribulin in patients with metastatic breast cancer

Eribulin gained its approval in March 2011 for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (MBC) whose disease has progressed despite anthracycline and taxone-containing regimens. This study retrospectively assessed the efficacy, safety and cost of this treatment for all patients with MBC treated by eribulin in Franche-Comte. Ninety-four patients received eribulin between July 2006 and October 2013. The median age was 62 years (35-83). Median overall survival was 10.3 months [95% CI: 7.6 to 17.9]. Median progression-free-survival was 3.8 months [95% CI: 2.9 to 5.0]. Clinical benefit was obtained in 55% evaluable patients [95% CI: 43.1 to 66.9] by RECIST criteria. Most common grade 3-4 adverse events (AEs) were neutropenia (38%), asthenia (10%) and peripheral neuropathy (7%). Median cost of the treatment was 9767 per patient (6344-17,517). This analysis found similar results to the EMBRACE study despite less selected population. A medico-economic evaluation cost-utility type would assess the effectiveness of this strategy compared to standard treatments.