PARP Inhibitors Advance Beyond Treatment of BRCA1/2-Mutant Gynecologic Cancers

Mira Hellmann, MD a gynecologic oncologist at John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, discusses how the use of PARP inhibitors as treatment of patients with gynecologic cancers has evolved since they were first introduced into the treatment landscape up to studies evaluating these therapies today in a variety of patient populations, particularly in patients with ovarian cancer.

PARP inhibitors have shown significant improvement in disease status, Hellman says, and they have created a whole world of treatments and disease management, Hellmann says. It was thought that PARP inhibition was limited to patients withBRCA1/2mutations, but more data have demonstrated efficacy in patients who do not harbor these mutations.

Hellmann says that research has shown that PARP inhibitors are efficacious in patients who are homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)-positive, while other studies have shown that those who are not HRD-positive or have theBRCA1/2mutations still receive benefit from the PARP inhibitors. A number of presentations at recent meetings have demonstrated benefit from PARP inhibitors, Hellman concludes.

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