Breast & ovarian cancer
If you are a breast and ovarian cancer patient, you happen to find that you are a cancer of the BRCA1 / 2 mutation after passing the genetic test, and your life is saved. According to the Global Oncologist Network, Niraparib, a targeted drug targeted at the PARP gene, will be submitted for marketing in the fourth quarter of this year because of its amazing phase III clinical trial results. Due to the amazing clinical trial data of this drug, it can be sure It is certain that the drug will be approved by the FDA. The target drug development company Tesaro’s stock price has soared from $ 37 to $ 77 instantly due to this breakthrough.
What kind of drug is Niraparib?
It is an oral targeted drug that targets the PARP gene and is not effective for any cancer. It mainly targets cancers with mutations in the BRCA1 / 2 gene, such as ovarian cancer and breast cancer. It reflects the “precision treatment” concept of modern medicine. Patients with ovarian and breast cancer need genetic testing to find out if they have a BRCA1 / 2 mutation.
How amazing is Niraparib’s treatment?
Tesaro released Phase III clinical data of Niraparib for ovarian cancer patients who relapsed after advanced chemotherapy. The results showed that for ovarian cancer with BRCA gene mutation, Niraparib was taken orally once daily, and the average disease-free survival was 21 months, while the control group ( Patients who received chemotherapy alone) had a progression-free survival of 5.5 months. 21 months vs 5.5 months, the survival time is almost 4 times longer! This figure is too alarming, because the prolonged survival of most new drugs is only a few months. In other words, patients with BRCA mutations who use Niraparib can survive on average more than 21 months. This is very amazing for patients with recurrent advanced ovarian cancer.
What type of cancer can Niraparib treat?
PARP and BRCA are the two main genes responsible for repairing DNA mutations in cells, and they are the “right and left protection method” to protect the health of our cells. Due to the influence of the environment, DNA mutations occur in our body anytime, anywhere, but due to the existence of these two methods of protection, after DNA mutations are guaranteed, more than 99.9999% can be successfully repaired, otherwise the incidence of cancer will be much higher than now .
But for some people, due to innate or acquired causes, the cell BRCA gene itself is mutated and loses its activity, so the probability of repair after DNA mutation is greatly weakened, and more gene mutations will be accumulated quickly. The probability of cancer in this group greatly increase.
Although PARP inhibitors are mainly targeted at breast and ovarian cancer, some patients with other cancers also carry BRCA mutations or other DNA repair defects. They theoretically use PARP-targeted drugs to work well, including some prostate cancers. , Fallopian tube cancer, pancreatic cancer, childhood acute myeloid leukemia, etc. Clinical trials for these cancers are ongoing, and the world is waiting to see the results.
