Olaparib-resistant ovarian cancer patients live longer also treated with chemotherapy

Conventional chemotherapy could further extend life in some women with ovarian cancer when used in tandem with a new type of targeted treatment, a new international study has found.

The research provides evidence that PARP (poly ADP ribose polymerase) inhibitor drugs and chemotherapy can both be effective in the same patients, helping women live longer than they would if treated with chemotherapy alone. The study, in women with mutations to BRCA genes – which increase the risk that ovarian cancer will relapse after treatment, as well as being linked to breast and other cancers – showed that ovarian cancers that have become resistant to PARP inhibitors often remain sensitive to conventional chemotherapy.

It was led by researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, and looked at follow-up data from patients who had previously taken part in clinical trials sponsored by Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN).