Dr. Hussain on Interest in Using PARP Inhibitors in Prostate Cancer

Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, FASCO, Genevieve Teuton Professor of Medicine, Deputy Director, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, discusses the interest in using PARP inhibitors in patients with prostate cancer.

There has been a lot of interest in using PARP inhibitors in patients with prostate cancer to target the DNA damage repair pathway for over a decade, explains Hussain. Additionally, physicians are working to clarify the role of DNA repair defect as it relates to the use of PARP inhibitors.

Emerging data suggest that targeting the DNA repair pathway with PARP inhibitors is a promising therapeutic strategy, says Hussain. There are many ongoing clinical trials in multiple phases that are seeking to further define their role in practice, adds Hussain. Currently, there are 6 PARP inhibitors being evaluated in prostate cancer in clinical trials. However, unlike in other tumor types, physicians do not have access to predictive biomarkers to select patients for response.