Dr. Hellmann on Benefit of PARP Inhibitors in Patients With Ovarian Cancer

Mira C. Hellmann, MD, gynecologic oncologist and assistant professor, John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, discusses the benefit of PARP inhibitors in patients with ovarian cancer.

There have not been many breakthroughs in treatment options for patients with ovarian cancer. However, one larger finding that has been discovered is PARP inhibitors, which has shown benefit for select patients with ovarian cancer. Studies have shown that patients treated with PARR inhibitors experienced a significant improvement in their disease status, says Hellmann.

PARP inhibitors were originally thought to be limited to patients with a BRCA1/2 mutation but there have been more studies that have demonstrated efficacy in patients who do not have the BRCA1/2mutation but are positive for homologous recombination deficiency (HRD). There has also been research that found efficacy of PARP inhibitors in patients who have HRD-positive disease, as well as, those who do not have a BRCA1/2 mutation nor HRD-positive disease, concludes Hellmann.