New chemo drug may be more effective in certain patient groups

A phase three clinical trial of eribulin mesylate suggested it may be the optimal treatment in certain patient populations.

Results from a phase three clinical trial indicate that a potential new chemotherapy drug called eribulin mesylate could be more effective than the commonly-administered capecitabine in certain types of cancer patients.
As medical advancements are made, treatment of the disease is becoming increasingly personalised in order to ensure the most favourable outcomes, and the new medicine could help doctors better tailor their curative or palliative strategies.
Findings presented by Dr Peter A Kaufman during the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting, which was held in Chicago, indicate that eribulin mesylate is superior to the alternative in patients with three or more organs involved with metastatic breast cancer.
Those who have not undergone chemotherapy, which involves the administration of cytotoxic drugs to eradicate populations of diseased cells, for six months also stand to benefit, as do patients who have received anthracycline and/or a taxane therapies in the metastatic setting.
Dr Kaufman, of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Geisel School of Medicine and Norris Cotton Cancer Center, said: "These exploratory analyses suggest that other patient subgroups may benefit from eribulin and further studies are warranted."