Eisai Ltd., of Hatfield, UK, presented results of a phase II, open-label, dose-confirmation study of Halaven (eribulin) in combination with Xeloda (capecitabine, Roche AG) at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium that suggested the therapy is effective in women with metastatic breast cancer, with an overall response rate of 42.9 percent and clinical benefit rate of 57.1 percent. The company said the safety and tolerability profile were consistent with previous data. In combination, eribulin and capecitabine had median progression-free survival of 7.1 months. A second phase II, multicenter, open-label study suggested eribulin plus capecitabine could be used as adjuvant therapy in women with early stage, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Two additional studies suggested improved quality of life outcomes for women treated with first-line eribulin as monotherapy and in combination with Herceptin (trastuzumab, Roche AG).