The patients were randomized to receive eribulin or any single-agent treatment of the physician’s choice, selected prior to randomization. The FDA’s approval of eribulin mesylate was based on demonstration of a statistically significant prolongation of overall survival (OS) in patients who had been randomized to receive eribulin. The median OS was 13.1 months in the eribulin arm compared with 10.6 months in the control arm [HR 0.81 (95% CI, 0.66-0.99); P = 0.041]. Treatment with eribulin did not

show a statistically significant treatment effect [HR 0.87 (95% CI, 0.71-1.05)] on progression-free survival as determined by independent review. This approval highlights the appropriate use of an innovative trial design and shows that improvement in OS is an achievable endpoint in the setting of advanced breast cancer. On the basis of the different conclusions arising from the OS and progression-free selleck compound survival Histone Methyltransf inhibitor results, investigators should consider using OS as a primary endpoint in clinical trials for refractory breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 18(6); 1496-505. (C)2012 AACR.”
“Cheville AL, Basford JR, Troxel AB, Kornblith AB. Performance of common clinician- and self-report measures in assessing the function of community-dwelling people with metastatic breast cancer. Arch Phys

Med Rehabil 2009;90:2116-24.\n\nObjective: To characterize the performance of common clinician- and self-report measures of function in assessing community-dwelling people with metastatic breast cancer.\n\nDesign: Cross-sectional study.\n\nSetting: PP2 A tertiary medical center outpatient

cancer clinic.\n\nParticipants: A consecutive sample of community-dwelling patients (N=163) with stage IV breast cancer.\n\nInterventions: Not applicable.\n\nMain Outcome Measures: Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Physical Functioning (PF-10) and Role Physical subscales; the Older Americans Resource Study (OARS) activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL subscales; Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS); and the FIM Total and FIM Mobility scores.\n\nResults: With the exception of the PF-10 and Role Physical subscales, which demonstrated floor effects, ceiling effects were detected in all the measures and were particularly persistent in the OARS ADL subscale. Instrument and item score distributions varied markedly across KPS-defined subgroups with FIM Mobility, FIM Total, and OARS subscale score distributions deviating least from the normal in the lowest performing (KPS 40-50) participants. Correlations between self-reported (Role Physical subscales, PF-10, OARS ADL subscales) and the clinician-rated (KPS and FIM scales) scales were moderate to high (r=.55-.82); however, clinician-reported scores were more consistently associated with the presence of physical impairments.