Dr. Higano on Role of PARP Inhibitors in Prostate Cancer

Celestia Higano, MD, FACP, member, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, professor, Department of Medicine and Urology, University of Washington, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses the role of PARP inhibitors in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer.

Investigators initially thought that PARP inhibitors would be limited to the small subset of patients who express DNA repair gene defects. However, going back to the original New England Journal of Medicine article exploring PARP inhibitors in this space, about 6% of patients responded to therapy who did not have a DNA repair gene defect. This suggests that PARP inhibitors may extend beyond the specific precision medicine approach that was originally associated with this therapy.

For example, Higano says, PARP inhibitors may have benefit in patients whose tumors express a transcription of factors that are important in blocking the androgen receptor. In general, these drugs could have a dual role in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer.