Patients with BRCA-positive high-risk breast cancer continue having a survival rate up to 35% higher when treated with the drug olaparib, according to the results published so far in the phase 3 clinical trial (the last before a drug can be approved for use in humans) Olympia.
BRCA mutations in breast cancer
He BRCA positive breast cancer It is one in which the patient has a harmful variant in one of the two copies that we have of this gene (one inherited from each parent), a characteristic that increases the risk of suffering from certain types of cancer.
In particular, it explains the US National Cancer Institutea woman with a harmful variant in the BRCA1 gene has a 55 to 72% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, and a woman with a harmful variant in the BRCA2 gene has between a 45 and 69% chance of developing breast cancer, compared to a 13% risk in the general population.
These harmful variants are mainly found in some potentially aggressive types of breast cancersuch as HER-2 negative in the case of BRCA1 positive (tumor cells have little or no HER-2 negative protein; they tend to grow more slowly and be less recurrent than HER-2 positive, but treatments targeting this protein do not work against them) or ER positive (tumor cells have receptors for the hormone estrogen; these tumors respond to hormonal treatment). For this reason, patients with both types of tumors were included in the study.
What is olaparib?
Olaparib is a drug developed by the pharmaceutical company Lynparza that acts as an inhibitor of the enzyme polyadenosine 5′ diphosphate ribose polymerase. (PARP).
Nowadays, it is almost always used in combination with other treatmentsto help maintain their response in certain types of ovarian, fallopian tube and peritoneum cancer, as well as certain types of breast and prostate cancer.
Due to the good results in therapeutic applications already approved, their uses against other types of tumors are currently being explored.
Higher survival rate without invasive disease
So far, the average follow-up of participants is 6.1 years, while the longest is 9.6. Based on this, the rate of invasive disease-free survival at 6 years in patients treated with olaparib after standard treatment it was 79.6%, compared to 70.3% in those who received placebo after their treatment.
Beyond that, points out the health news portal Medscape, A prespecified analysis carried out on the first patient to be included in the trial showed a 35% reduction in the risk of invasive disease with treatment with olaparib.
In general, furthermore, the treatment also reduced risks of distant disease (metastasis) and adverse events of special interest for the study, as well as the appearance of new primary tumors.
This work tested the effectiveness of olaparib used as adjuvant treatment, which means that it is administered in combination with other approaches. (such as chemotherapy, surgery or radiotherapy). Its authors emphasize that, based on the body of evidence collected so far, its beneficial effects seem to be limited not only to women with BRCA-positive cancers but also with other high-risk forms.
References
ClinicalTrials.gov. Olaparib as Adjuvant Treatment in Patients With Germline BRCA Mutated High Risk HER2 Negative Primary Breast Cancer (OlympiA). Consulted online at on December 12, 2024.
National Cancer Institute. Mutations in the BRCA gene: cancer risk and genetic testing. Consulted online at on December 12, 2024.
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