Olaparib shows promising results against inherited forms of breast and ovarian cancer
March 28, 2016
"However, it is important to remember this drug is at an early stage of development, and further clinical trials will be required to fully evaluate its potential before it would be considered as a licensed treatment."
Dr Susan Domchek, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania who was involved in the breast cancer trial, commented: "This is a different way of looking at cancer therapeutics.
"In oncology, this is really one of the first times that we've seen drugs being developed on the basis of inherited susceptibility - and that may open up a whole new avenue of drug development."
Nell Barrie, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "The work of Cancer Research UK scientists has been instrumental in the development of PARP inhibitors.
"This small study is part of the important process of testing the safety and effectiveness of these exciting new drugs, but we'll have to wait for the results of much larger trials to know if PARP inhibitors can help to save lives."
Source: Cancer Research UK