PARP inhibitors show promise in hard to treat breast cancers

Two new studies presented at an ASCO plenary session report that a new class of targeted therapy called poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors show promise in hard to treat breast cancers. The first study found that women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who received the PARP inhibitor BSI-201 in combination with chemotherapy lived significantly longer and had significantly better progression-free survival than women who received chemotherapy alone. The second small phase II study found that more than a third of women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations and advanced breast cancer that persisted despite prior treatment experienced tumour shrinkage after receiving the PARP inhibitor olaparib....