Back to June 2010: Updates from the 2010 ASCO Annual Meeting
News about PARP inhibitors for triple-negative cancers?
- Question from MomOf4: Any new news this year about PARP inhibitors for triple-negative?
- Answer —Andrew Seidman, M.D. : While we still await the data from a large randomized Phase III trial evaluating BSI-201, there were several smaller studies reported at this year's ASCO meeting. One study involved the oral PARP inhibitor olaparib, which was administered with weekly Taxol (chemical name: paclitaxel) chemotherapy for triple-negative metastatic breast cancer. (Abstract number 1018 at ASCO.) Another study examined yet another PARP inhibitor, veliparib, in combination with a chemotherapy agent called Temodar (chemical name: temozolomide). In this trial, significant responses were seen in patients with metastatic breast cancer who carried BRCA mutations. Still, to date there are no commercially available PARP inhibitors, and their ultimate role depends upon the awaited results of large randomized trials.