Dr. Kaufman on Eribulin/ Capecitabine Side Effects

Peter A. Kaufman, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, discusses the side effect profiles of the microtubule inhibitor eribulin mesylate and the oral chemotherapeutic agent capecitabine.

In a phase III trial presented at the 2012 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, eribulin did not to show a statistically significant survival benefit compared to capecitabine in patients with previously treated metastatic breast cancer.

Kaufman notes that there were also no definitive findings regarding which drug had a more tolerable side effect profile. This issue is common in metastatic breast cancer with other chemotherapeutic agents, Kaufman says. Patients in the eribulin arm of the study saw a higher incidence of peripheral neuropathy and neutropenia while those treated with capecitabine experienced adverse events of hand-foot syndrome, diarrhea, and nausea.