The FDA has approved eribulin mesylate (Halaven) as a treatment for patients with advanced or unresectable liposarcoma following prior treatment with an anthracycline-based chemotherapy, based on an improvement in overall survival (OS) in a phase III study.

In a subpopulation of 143 patients in study with liposarcoma, the microtubule dynamics inhibitor eribulin demonstrated a median OS of 15.6 months compared with 8.4 months in those who received dacarbazine (HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.35-0.75). These findings mark the first time that an agent has shown a survival benefit for patients with liposarcoma, according to the FDA.

“Halaven is the first drug approved for patients with liposarcoma that has demonstrated an improvement in survival time,” Richard Pazdur, MD, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “The clinical trial data the FDA reviewed indicates that Halaven increased overall survival by approximately seven months, offering patients a clinically meaningful drug.” Click here to read the full article at OncLive.com