Feasibility and tolerability of eribulin-based chemotherapy versus other chemotherapy regimens for patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: a single-centre retrospective study

Background: Patients with Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) face a poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Current data on eribulin usage to treat TNBC is scarce. Therefore, we sought to compare the feasibility and tolerability of eribulin-based regimens with other chemotherapy regimens in patients with TNBC. Method: This retrospective study was conducted at Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital and included 159 patients with TNBC enrolled between October 2011 and January 2023. Patients underwent treatment with eribulin-based and other chemotherapy regimens. The study's primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), while its secondary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety. Tumour response was assessed using RECIST V.1.1 criteria. Results: Of the 159 participants in the study, 42 individuals (26.4%) received treatment with eribulin, whereas 117 participants (73.6%) were administered alternative chemotherapy regimens, which included nab-paclitaxel-based therapy (n = 45) and platinum-based therapy (n = 51). The follow-up period for all patients ended on 31 December 2022, and the median follow-up time was 18.3 months (range:0.7-27.5). Following propensity score matching (PSM), eribulin-based treatment resulted in longer median progression-free survival compared to platinum-based (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.41, p = 0.006), nab-paclitaxel-based (hazard ratio = 0.36, p = 0.001) and other chemotherapy (HR = 0.39, p < 0.001). Also, eribulin induced a remarkable prolongation of the median overall survival duration in all three comparative groups. The group receiving eribulin treatment showed significantly reduced incidences of any grade of anaemia, peripheral neuropathy, nausea and vomiting, and hair loss compared to other chemotherapy groups. Conclusion: For the salvage treatment of advanced TNBC, treatment with eribulin produced longer median PFS and OS than other chemotherapy regimens, with a well-tolerated safety profile. Therefore, further investigation of eribulin-based treatment in larger randomized trials for patients with advanced TNBC is warranted.