Promising results for a metastatic pancreatic cancer drug

Israeli specialist leads multinational study on a new treatment regimen for people with BRCA mutations, published in the New England Journal of Medicine

A leading Israeli researcher reports promising results of a new treatment regimen, called POLO, for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer in patients with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutated genes.

Dr. Talia Golan, Head of the Pancreatic Cancer Center at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, is conducting ongoing research and clinical trials with Astrazeneca and MSD (Merck) biopharmaceutical companies to badess the safety and efficacy of the effectiveness of the POLO dosing regimen.

The results were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine on June 2, the same day that Golan presented the results of the study at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

Pancreatic cancer is the 12th most common cancer in the world and the 4th leading cause of cancer death. Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is difficult because there are often no symptoms. Thus, approximately 80% of patients are diagnosed at the metastatic stage and less than 3% of metastatic patients survive more than five years after diagnosis.

Patients with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation constitute a small subgroup of people with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

BRCA genes produce proteins responsible for repairing damaged DNA and maintaining genetic stability in cells. When one or both of these genes is mutated, the cells become unstable and are more likely to develop additional genetic alterations that can lead to cancer. A large number of Ashkenazi Jews (of Eastern European origin) around the world carry BRCA 1 and / or 2 mutations.

Lynparza (olaparib) is the first targeted treatment aimed at blocking the response to DNA damage in cells and tumors deficient in repairing homologous recombination, such as mutations in BRCA1 and / or BRCA2. POLO is a randomized, phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study of olaparib.

"Of the 3,315 patients who underwent screening, 154 were randomized and badigned to a trial intervention (92 to receive olaparib and 62 to receive a placebo). Median progression-free survival was significantly longer in the olaparib group than in the placebo group (7.4 months vs. 3.8 months, "Golan and his coauthors French, German, Italian, Belgian, Spanish, South Korean and British states.

Golan, a world-renowned expert on pancreatic cancer research, concluded that "The POLO trial using the drug Lynparza offers potential hope for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and BRCA mutation.

"This treatment also illustrates the advent of" precision medicine "based on a specific genetic biomarker, BRCA genes 1 and 2, she said.

(Israel 21c)