Development of cytotoxic chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer with a triple-negative phenotype

Treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer (BC) with a triple-negative phenotype represents the most difficult challenge for clinicians. The optimal chemotherapy regimens for triple-negative BC (TNBC) have not been determined for a long time. However, in the later periods were found molecular agents of application (6 subtypes of TNBC) for the specific therapeutic agent and were performed many studies and subunit analysis, examined appropriate drugs for TNBC. Cell lines of these subtypes have different anticancer drug sensitivity. The results of further studies of targeted drugs using as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy in patients with TNBC, in spite of molecular genetic evidence for their application, have fallen short of expectations, although have shown increase in progression-free survival and overall survival. The development of eribulin (nontaxane microtubule dynamics inhibitor) in 2010 significantly increased the possibility of therapy in patients with locally advanced and metastatic BC who had already received chronic treatment. According to the joint analysis of the randomized phase III EMBRACE trial and Study 301, which included data about 1864 patients, it was demonstrated that eribulin statistically significant improve overall survival compared with other drugs using as monotherapy in the general population and among patients with TNBC [statistically significant differences in overall survival was associated with the subgroup of TNBC in patients who had been treated with eribulin, in comparison with the control arm: 12.9 and 8.2 months, respectively (relative risk 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.60 to 0.92, p=0.006)]. This article deals with the own experience of successful and long-term eribulin application in young woman with TN metastatic BC who have had already received chronic treatment.