Crossing Tumor Types: BRCA Experience Points Way to New Diagnostic Paradigm (eg. Olaparib)

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 ....Consider, for example, the recent FDA approval of olaparib (Lynparza) in the second-line treatment of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. This agent, a PARP (poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor, has been shown in both single-agent efficacy trials and a randomized phase 2 study to have impressive activity in BRCA-mutation positive disease. (Note: The approved indication for this agent in the management of ovarian cancer is very limited, which is surprising and highly questionable in light of existing peer-reviewed data that strongly support the effectiveness of the agent in additional settings in this malignancy.)
The specific point of this commentary is not to highlight the widely recognized favorable biological and clinical activity of olaparib in ovarian cancer, but rather to acknowledge a potential role for the drug in other malignancies. In a highly provocative report, investigators described the effectiveness of this agent in a heterogeneous group of patients with advanced cancers who also possessed a documented BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation. The overall objective response rate in this trial was 26 percent......

Olaparib May Prove Versatile

Consider, for example, the recent FDA approval of olaparib (Lynparza) in the second-line treatment of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. This agent, a PARP (poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor, has been shown in both single-agent efficacy trials and a randomized phase 2 study to have impressive activity in BRCA-mutation positive disease. (Note: The approved indication for this agent in the management of ovarian cancer is very limited, which is surprising and highly questionable in light of existing peer-reviewed data that strongly support the effectiveness of the agent in additional settings in this malignancy.)

The specific point of this commentary is not to highlight the widely recognized favorable biological and clinical activity of olaparib in ovarian cancer, but rather to acknowledge a potential role for the drug in other malignancies. In a highly provocative report, investigators described the effectiveness of this agent in a heterogeneous group of patients with advanced cancers who also possessed a documented BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation. The overall objective response rate in this trial was 26 percent.

As previously established, olaparib was shown to produce objective tumor regressions in patients with ovarian cancer (31 percent; 60 of 193 patients). - See more at: http://www.curetoday.com/articles/Crossing-Tumor-Types-BRCA-Experience-Points-Way-to-New-Diagnostic-Paradigm?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Cure+Today&utm_campaign=CURExtra%2Demail%2D4%2D8%2D15#sthash.q7xsHDLA.dpuf