Advances in the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma: focus on eribulin

Abstract

Panagiotis Koliou,1,* Vasilios Karavasilis,1,* Maria Theochari,2 Seth M Pollack,3 Robin L Jones,4 Khin Thway4 1The London Sarcoma Service, University College London Hospital, London, UK; 2Hippokration Hospital, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; 3Division of Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; 4Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Eribulin mesylate is a synthetic derivative of halichondrin B isolated from a marine sponge. Its mechanism of action is through microtubule inhibition, which is different from that of taxanes. Eribulin has been approved for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and more recently for non-operable or metastatic liposarcoma in patients who have received prior anthracycline chemotherapy. The major side effects of eribulin are bone marrow suppression including neutropenia, leukopenia, anemia, and fatigue/weakness, which can be well managed. In this article, we reviewed evidence from the latest published data on eribulin and its use in the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas. We explored the drug’s mechanism of action, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and metabolism. Lastly, we reviewed all preclinical studies as well as clinical trials that investigated eribulin. Keywords: eribulin, chemotherapy, sarcoma

Keywords

• Eribulin
• chemotherapy
• sarcoma