A comparison of toxicity and health care resource use between eribulin, capecitabine, gemcitabine, and vinorelbine in patients with metastatic breast cancer treated in a community oncology setting:

BackgroundCapecitabine (C), gemcitabine (G), and vinorelbine (V) are commonly used as single agents in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Eribulin (E) is one of the most recent cytotoxic agents to gain regulatory approval for metastatic breast cancer in the United States as a single agent. EMBRACE – a large randomized trial demonstrated the safety and overall survival benefit of eribulin in heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer patients compared to treatment of physician's choice. In this analysis, toxicity and the associated health care resource use were compared between the four agents in a sample of metastatic breast cancer patients treated in a US community oncology setting.MethodsThis study identified 411 patients (C=144, G=81, V=96, and E=90) who were treated in 19 community oncology clinics over the preceding two-year period. Data collection included baseline patient and disease characteristics, duration of therapy, use of supportive care drugs, type of dose limiting toxicities, and thei...