Scientists have developed a three-in-one blood test that could transform treatment of advanced prostate cancer through use of precision drugs designed to target mutations in the BRCA genes.
By testing cancer DNA in the bloodstream, researchers found they could pick out which men with advanced prostate cancer were likely to benefit from treatment with exciting new drugs called PARP inhibitors.
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The researchers…say their test is the first developed for a precision prostate cancer therapy targeted at specific genetic faults within tumors.
It could in future allow the PARP inhibitor olaparib to become a standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer, by targeting the drug at the men most likely to benefit, picking up early signs that it might not be working, and monitoring for the later development of resistance…Olaparib is good at killing cancer cells that have errors in genes that have a role in repairing damaged DNA such as BRCA1 or BRCA2.
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“Not only could the test have a major impact on treatment of prostate cancer, but it could also be adapted to open up the possibility of precision medicine to patients with other types of cancer as well,” [said Professor Johann de Bono, Regius Professor of Cancer Research at The Institute of Cancer Research, London].
[Read the full study here]
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