WATANI International
28 November 2010
Until now it was only thought that those who had ovarian cancer as a result of carrying an inherited “faulty” copy of the BRCA gene – accounting for up to 15 per cent of cases – would benefit from a class of drug called PARP inhibitors.
But now scientists have developed a new test that shows 60 per cent of all patients with ovarian cancer could benefit from them.
Currently there are no PARP inhibitor drugs licensed to treat ovarian cancer patients. A handful such as olaparib have shown promising results at reducing tumours in early trials.
Dr Asima Mukhopadhyay of the Northern Gynaecological Oncology Centre in Gateshead, who will present results of the research at the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Liverpool said: “Our results show that this new test is almost 100 per cent effective in identifying which ovarian cancer patients could benefit from these promising new drugs.”
Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information, said: “It’s exciting to see the development of promising new ‘smart’ drugs such as PARP inhibitors. But equally important is the need to identify exactly which sub groups of patients will benefit from these new treatments.
“Tests like this will become invaluable in helping doctors get the most effective treatments quickly to patients, sparing them from unnecessary treatments and side effects.”
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The Daily Telegraph