CANCER DIGEST – May 4, 2020 – A breast cancer drug may be more effective than
The drug olaparib, Lynparza™, is a targeted chemotherapy pill used to treat both ovarian cancer and an aggressive form of metastatic breast cancer, that generally has few side effects. The study appears in the April 28, 2020 New England Journal of Medicine.
In the new study, called the PROfound trial, researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK, in collaboration with Northwestern University in Chicago, tested 387 men with advanced prostate cancer for tumors with specific genetic alterations. The men were treated in two groups.
They found that among the 245 men with altered BRCA1 and BRCA2 (breast cancer genes) and treated with olaparib benefited most with an average halt to their prostate cancer progression of 7.4 months compared to 3.6 months for men treated with conventional therapy. Men treated with olaparib with other gene mutations also benefited with longer progression-free survival.
The most frequent adverse effects were anaemia and nausea, which have been associated with olaparib in the past.
PROfound is the first trial to show how crucial it is to carry out genomic testing in prostate cancer patients. It is vital to identify different patient groups based on their genetics and to tailor treatment accordingly.
Next, the researchers will look at combining olaparib with other treatments, with the aim of improving outcomes even further.
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