Eribulin Mesylate in Treated Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Study of Tumor Response and Adverse Effects

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer, majority of patients present in advanced stage and 30% develop distant metastasis. Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) is not curable and treatment aims at prolongation of life with good palliation. There is no standard treatment, though the usual first and second lines of chemotherapy include anthracyclines and taxanes. The third line chemo drugs available are gemcitabine, capecitabine, vinorelbine and eribulinmesylate Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of MBC patients pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes and then received 4 cycles of eribulin during the period March 2015-2017 in Medical College, Alappuzha and aims at studying the tumor response and drug toxicities. The tumor response is studied using CR-complete response, PR- partial response, PD-progressive disease and SD-stable disease. Results: There were a total of 18 patients, majority of whom were below 50 years. ECOG performance status of 0-1 was found in 83.3% and 77.8% were receptor positive. No patient had CR, 66.7% of patients had PR, 22.2% had PD and 11.1% had SD. 61.1% of patients who had a PR had good performance status.55.6% of patients who were ERPR positive had a PR and 44.4% patients who were Her2neu positive had a PR. Most common toxicities detected were alopecia (83.3%), neutropenia (72.2%), fatigue (72.2%) and neurotoxicity (55.6%). Conclusion: Eribulin mesylate is a drug having good response with tolerable toxicities and can be considered in our population. Keywords: Metastatic breast cancer, eribulin mesylate, capecitabine.

Anti-tumour drugs of marine origin currently at various stages of clinical trials (review)

Oncological diseases for a long time have remained one of the most significant health problems of modern society, which causes great losses in its labour and vital potential. Contemporary oncology still faces unsolved issues as insufficient efficacy of treatment of progressing and metastatic cancer, chemoresistance, and side-effects of the traditional therapy which lead to disabilities among or death of a high number of patients. Development of new anti-tumour preparations with a broad range of pharmaceutical properties and low toxicity is becoming increasingly relevant every year. The objective of the study was to provide a review of the recent data about anti-tumour preparations of marine origin currently being at various phases of clinical trials in order to present the biological value of marine organisms – producers of cytotoxic compounds, and the perspectives of their use in modern biomedical technologies. Unlike the synthetic oncological preparations, natural compounds are safer, have broader range of cytotoxic activity, can inhibit the processes of tumour development and metastasis, and at the same time have effects on several etiopathogenic links of carcinogenesis. Currently, practical oncology uses 12 anti-tumour preparations of marine origin (Fludarabine, Cytarabine, Midostaurin, Nelarabine, Eribulin mesylate, Brentuximab vedotin, Trabectedin, Plitidepsin, Enfortumab vedotin, Polatuzumab vedotin, Belantamab mafodotin, Lurbinectedin), 27 substances are at different stages of clinical trials. Contemporary approaches to the treatment of oncological diseases are based on targeted methods such as immune and genetic therapies, antibody-drug conjugates, nanoparticles of biopolymers, and metals. All those methods employ bioactive compounds of marine origin. Numerous literature data from recent years indicate heightened attention to the marine pharmacology and the high potential of marine organisms for the biomedicinal and pharmaceutic industries.

Field-Template, QSAR, Ensemble Molecular Docking, and 3D-RISM Solvation Studies Expose Potential of FDA-Approved Marine Drugs as SARS-CoVID-2 Main Protease Inhibitors

Currently, SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has infected people among all countries and is a pandemic as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). SARS-CoVID-2 main protease is one of the therapeutic drug targets that has been shown to reduce virus replication, and its high-resolution 3D structures in complex with inhibitors have been solved. Previously, we had demonstrated the potential of natural compounds such as serine protease inhibitors eventually leading us to hypothesize that FDA-approved marine drugs have the potential to inhibit the biological activity of SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Initially, field-template and structure–activity atlas models were constructed to understand and explain the molecular features responsible for SARS-CoVID-2 main protease inhibitors, which revealed that Eribulin Mesylate, Plitidepsin, and Trabectedin possess similar characteristics related to SARS-CoVID-2 main protease inhibitors. Later, protein–ligand interactions are studied using ensemble molecular-docking simulations that revealed that marine drugs bind at the active site of the main protease. The three-dimensional reference interaction site model (3D-RISM) studies show that marine drugs displace water molecules at the active site, and interactions observed are favorable. These computational studies eventually paved an interest in further in vitro studies. Finally, these findings are new and indeed provide insights into the role of FDA-approved marine drugs, which are already in clinical use for cancer treatment as a potential alternative to prevent and treat infected people with SARS-CoV-2.