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Hundreds of women could benefit from a "revolutionary" drug against ovarian cancer that could prolong life by doubling the number of patients whose cancer can not worsen.
Lymparza (olaparib) could even offer a cure to some women with cancer, notoriously deadly and difficult to treat.
It has been proven that the drug prevents the disease from recurring until a year and a half after approval of its use for the NHS.
It is made available through the Cancer Fund to help women with a genetic form of ovarian cancer.
The drug is intended for newly diagnosed people with ovarian cancer who has spread and who have the BRCA gene mutation.
The inherited mutations of the BRCA gene are responsible for about one in five ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer may present with vague symptoms and 60% of cases are detected at an advanced stage, with a high risk of recurrence after treatment.
Clinical data
Until now, women with advanced cancer were offered surgery and chemotherapy to control their cancer. A small number of them have been submitted to Lynparza after three cycles of chemotherapy.
But patients will now receive much earlier Lynparza as a maintenance drug if they responded to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) predicts that each year, in England, 700 women could receive the tablets, which are taken twice a day.
Clinical data show that Lynparza reduces the risk of cancer worsening or death by 70% compared with placebo.
Six out of 10 (60%) patients receiving the drug also had no cancer progression after three years, compared with 27% receiving the dummy drug.
The drug can also benefit patients with advanced cancer of the fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer.
"Treatment that changes the practice"
Jonathan Ledermann, a professor of medical oncology at the University College London Cancer Institute, said: "Although survival rates for advanced ovarian cancer are low, our goal for the treatment of newly diagnosed women is remission. or even a long-term cure.
"With the current standard treatments, which are limited to chemotherapy and surgery, unfortunately, 70% of women relapse within three years.
"Olaparib is designed to exploit the Achilles heel of BRCA mutated ovarian cancer and we hope, based on the trial data, that it will dramatically improve outcomes for these patients. "
Dr. Susana Banerjee, consultant on medical oncology at the Royal Marsden in London and the Institute for Cancer Research, who co-directed the clinical trial, said: "Olaparib is a treatment that changes the practice.
"The maintenance treatment at olaparib heralds a new era for women with ovarian cancer – it's the first time we're seeing such dramatic improvements in survival without progression.
This means that more women will have more time before relapse, chemotherapy time and the possibility of increased survival.
"The SOLO-1 historical trial has resulted in a paradigm shift in the treatment of women with advanced ovarian cancer.
"Results from trials to date have shown that maintenance therapy with olaparib prolongs progression-free survival in women with cancer by approximately three years." advanced ovary linked to the BRCA mutation.
"Some of my patients who were treated in this trial at the Royal Marsden remain cancer free years later."
"The potential to cure the disease in some"
Cary Wakefield, managing director of Ovarian Cancer Action, said the news had helped to "turn personalized treatment into reality", while stating that 29% of patients with ovarian cancer n & # 39; Had still not pbaded genetic tests to identify their type of cancer.
Olaparib is a type of medication called PARP inhibitor. It works by preventing the PARP protein in the cancer cells from repairing the damaged DNA, causing the death of the cancer cells.
Meindert Boysen, director of the Nice Center for Health Technology Assessment, said: "The availability of olaparib tablets as a maintenance treatment is an important development in cancer management. advanced ovary to BRCA mutation.
"Olaparib is already used for ovarian cancer, but it should present the best benefits if it is used early.It is estimated that it can potentially cure the disease in some people." it is administered before the first recurrence. "
NHS England and AstraZeneca have reached a commercial agreement on the price of the drug.
Each year in England, approximately 6,780 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Annwen Jones, Executive Director of Target Ovarian Cancer, said: "For the first time, women with a BRCA gene mutation will be able to access this new generation of breakthrough anticancer drugs from the very first time treatment cycle.
"For many women, this represents a long-overdue improvement and we expect a future where all women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, regardless of their BRCA status, have multiple options to treatment."
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