Clinical and preclinical features of eribulin-related peripheral neuropathy

Different microtubule-targeting agents (MTAs) possess distinct modes of action and their clinical use in cancer treatment is often limited by chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (CIPN). Eribulin is a member of the halichondrin class of antineoplastic drugs, which is correlated with a high antimitotic activity against metastatic breast cancer and liposarcoma. Current clinical evidence suggests that eribulin treatment, unlike some of the other MTAs, is associated with a relatively low incidence of severe peripheral neuropathy. This suggests that different MTAs possess unique mechanisms of neuropathologic induction. Animal models reliably reproduced eribulin-related neuropathy providing newer insights in CIPN pathogenesis, and they are highly suitable for in vivo functional, symptomatic and morphological characterizations of eribulin-related CIPN. The purpose of this review is to discuss the most recent literature on eribulin with a focus on both clinical and preclinical data, to explain the molecular events responsible for its favorable neurotoxic profile.