Lisa Carey, MD, Preyer Distinguished Professor in Breast Cancer Research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said the study should not be interpreted as negative for eribulin.

“Most of the patients in this study were being treated second-line. EMBRACE was a totally different circumstance, as it enrolled heavily pretreated patients, and the comparison was eribulin vs whatever the physician still had in his or her grab bag. Here, in [study 301], eribulin was compared to a well-established second-line therapy, and that made a difference,” she noted.

“I am not troubled by the fact that it did not prove superior to capecitabine. The results show instead that eribulin is a reasonable drug. I like having multiple options for my patients,” she said. ■

Disclosure: Dr. Carey reported no potential conflicts of interest.