Sea sponge drug may extend advanced breast cancer survival
A new drug, based on a natural extract from sea sponge, may help to extend the lives of women with advanced breast cancer, UK scientists have found.
A research team at the University of Leeds and St James's Institute of Oncology led an international trial of the new chemotherapy drug, eribulin mesylate.
The drug is based on a natural substance from the marine sponge Halichondria okadai and is a 'microtubule dynamics inhibitor' which affects cancer cells' ability to divide.
Read the whole article at Cancer Research UK
Reference
- Twelves, C et al. A phase III study (EMBRACE) of eribulin mesylate versus treatment of physician's choice in patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline and a taxane. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2010 (28), no. 18_suppl. doi: 10.1200/jco.2010.28.18_suppl.cra1004
Keywords: eribulin mesylate, breast cancer
11. 6. 2010 Cancer Research UK
