Dynamic Changes in Absolute Lymphocyte Counts During Eribulin Therapy Are Associated With Survival Benefit

Abstract

Background/aim: We investigated the usefulness of dynamic changes in absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) during eribulin therapy as predictive markers for survival benefit including post-progression survival (PPS).

Patients and methods: We retrospectively investigated 94 advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients who underwent eribulin therapy between July 2011 and June 2020.

Results: The multivariate analysis showed that high baseline ALC and low NLR were independent predictive markers for overall survival (OS) (p=0.007 and p=0.011, respectively) and PPS (p=0.005 and p=0.007, respectively). Dynamic changes in ALC were also associated with OS and PPS (p=0.015, and p=0.026, respectively) and were an independent predictive marker for PPS (p=0.021).

Conclusion: Baseline ALC and NLR and dynamic changes in ALC during eribulin therapy were significantly associated with survival benefit including PPS for patients with ABC.

Keywords: Advanced breast cancer; absolute lymphocyte count; dynamic changes; eribulin; overall survival; post-progression survival.