Predicting Response to PARP Inhibitor Therapy in Ovarian Cancer

Michael Birrer, MD, PhD, professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology, and Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses current data on predicting response to PARP inhibitor therapy in ovarian cancer.

Birrer says there is a lot of level 1 evidence to show which patients will benefit most from PARP inhibition. It is now known that the patients who will derive the most benefit have germline or somaticBRCA1/2mutations. However, patients who have mutations in other genes within the Fanconi pathway, and possibly patients who have alterations of BRCA1/2 through mechanisms other than mutations, may also benefit from these therapies, Birrer says.

Additionally, patients whose tumors demonstrate a high degree of homologous recombination also benefit from PARP inhibitors, Birrer explains. Still, there are patients who do not demonstrate any of the above and still benefit from PARP inhibition.