More highlights from ASCO for: Eisai's Halaven; Boehringer's nintedanib; and Lilly's Alimta

Among further highlights from the ongoing American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago, Japanese drug major Eisai (TYO: 4523) presented new data from Phase III 301 study showing that Halaven (eribulin) improved Global Health Status and overall quality of life more than capecitabine in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes.

However, the study did not meet the co-primary endpoints of overall survival or PFS. Median survival was 15.9 months with Halaven versus 14.5 months with capecitabine (HR 0.879; 95% CI 0.770, 1.003; p=0.056).

GHS/QoL scores were low at the start of the study for both drugs however results showed GHS/QoL and cognitive functioning had improved significantly more in patients receiving eribulin compared to capecitabine over the course of the study (15.3 [p0.001] and 6.5 [p=0.048] respectively). Emotional functioning was found to improve to a greater extent in the capecitabine patients (3.3 [p=0.033]). Patients receiving eribulin reported significantly fewer symptoms associated with nausea and vomiting (1.9 [p=0.043]) and diarrhoea (-3.7 [p=0.001]), whereas patients receiving capecitabine reported fewer systemic side effects (5.2 [p0.001]) and were less upset by hair loss (9.3 [p=0.023]).