2014年11月3日 訊 /生物谷BIOON/ --在利物浦舉辦的國家癌症研究所癌症(NCRI，National Cancer Research Institute)會議上，來自英國利茲大學的研究者指出，從海綿中開發出的癌症藥物艾日布林(Eribulin)可以使得患惡性三陰性乳腺癌的患者平均多存活5個月。
研究者對超過1800名乳腺癌患者進行了兩項主要的臨床試驗，這些乳腺癌患者機體的癌細胞已經開始向機體其它組織轉移了，III期臨床試驗中研究者將艾日布林治療的患者同標準化療法的患者的生存情況進行比較；研究結果顯示，艾日布林治療組女性的生存期比標準化療法治療的患者多了兩個月，三陰性乳腺癌患者的生存期延長尤為明顯，艾日布林治療可以使得三陰性乳腺癌患者生存期增加將近5個月。
癌症的擴散是90%癌症患者死亡的主要原因，當癌症擴散後患者被診斷出患有三陰性乳腺癌，僅有十分之一患者的生存期會達到10年，而如果在發病早期就被診斷出癌症，那麼十分之九的患者的生存期會達到10年。Chris Twelves教授表示，我們的研究結果揭示了艾日布林療法對轉移性的三陰性乳腺癌患者生存期的顯著性改善，同時對於HER2陰性的乳腺癌患者的生存改善也較為明顯。
此前艾日布林被用於多種化療治療過程中，但近日艾日布林得到歐盟批准用於進行乳腺癌較少治療的患者，這就表明在不遠的將來其或許可以為患者提供另外一種治療方法；儘管當前診斷和治療乳腺癌的方法不斷提高，但每年在英國有超過1.16萬人因侵襲性的乳腺癌而死亡，未來患者還需要更多有效的療法來抵禦乳腺癌的侵襲。
艾日布林可以通過阻斷癌細胞的分裂來發揮作用，其是一種微管抑制劑，最早開發於黑色軟海綿（Halichondria okadai），如今其可以在實驗室被製造；最後英國癌症研究中心的研究者Martin Ledwick教授表示，儘管艾日布林不是一種徹底治癒乳腺癌的藥物，但其可以明顯改善惡性乳腺癌患者的生存期，其對於患者及其家庭來講都是非常寶貴的。（生物谷Bioon.com）
英文原文：Efficacy of eribulin in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC): a pooled analysis by HER2 and ER status
生物谷推薦的新聞報導：
The cancer drug eribulin， originally developed from sea sponges， could give women with advanced triple negative breast cancer an average of five extra months of life， according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool today (Monday).
Researchers led by Professor Chris Twelves， based at the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust， looked at two major clinical trials of more than 1，800 women with breast cancer that had started to spread to other parts of the body. The phase III trials – the final stage of testing before deciding whether a drug can be prescribed to patients – compared the survival of women treated with eribulin to those given standard treatment.
The two studies showed an overall improvement in survival of more than two months for women treated with eribulin. The most significant improvement was seen in women with the advanced triple negative form of breast cancer， where there are limited treatment options； these women's survival improved by nearly five months. There was also a survival boost of more than two months for women with the HER2 negative form of breast cancer.
Cancer spreading to other organs – called metastasis – is responsible for around 90 per cent of all cancer deaths. And， when patients with breast cancer are diagnosed after the disease has started to spread， 10-year survival is around one in 10， compared to nearly nine in 10 for those diagnosed at the earliest stage.
Study author， Professor Chris Twelves， said： "Our results show a substantial improvement in survival for women with metastatic triple negative breast cancer， and a more modest， but significant， benefit for those with HER2 negative breast cancers.
"Eribulin has previously been offered to women who've already been through several lines of chemotherapy. But the European Union has recently approved eribulin for patients who have received less treatment for their breast cancer， which means we hope to give more patients another treatment option in the not-too-distant future.....