A research group from the 12 de Octubre public hospital in Madrid has demonstrated the aggressiveness of prostate cancer types BRCA1 and BRCA2, which can improve patient survival. using drugs that inhibit the enzyme poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP), with proven effectiveness in breast, ovarian and lung cancer. This is a study reported on Tuesday by the Madrid Hospital, involving 38 centers in Spain and Italy and more than 700 patients, which concludes that patients receive less benefit from usual treatments and their survival rate is lower than that of other patients with prostate tumors because there are genetic changes in these tumors.
According to the study, already published in the journal “Annals of Oncology”, the clinical trials carried out have shown that “The survival of patients with these changes may improve“with the use of PARP inhibitor drugs, which have proven effective in other cancers such as breast, ovarian and lung cancer and are already used in several European countries to treat the prostate.” These types of changes in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are present in 13 percent of prostate tumors and are hereditary in 25 percent of cases.
The research, it said Oct. 12, has shown that changes in other genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, are responsible for repairing the damage suffered by cells’ DNA. They are present in 17 percent of patients. The study suggests that some of these second changes may also be associated with poor response to usual treatments. To date, reference treatments for patients with prostate cancer include chemotherapy and new-generation hormonal therapies (enzalutamide or abiraterone acetate), the statement says, adding: “Although patients with such changes may respond to these treatments, the responses are usually only of 100% short duration.” and survival is much more limited.
In the study – adds the Madrid hospital – “the survival time of patients with alterations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 was limited to 18 months, half as long as that of patients without these alterations, counting from the moment the tumor became resistant. “ to hormonal suppression treatment. The note states that it is “the first work to integrate tumor genetic information and patients’ inherited changes to understand how these events impact response to treatments.”
Oncologist and head of the Prostate Cancer Genomics and Therapeutics Research Group at the hospital’s i+12 Research Institute, David Olmos, lead author of the study, says there are results showing adding a type of drug called PARP inhibitors to the treatment must “prevent cancer cells from repairing damage to their DNA.” slows the progression of the patient’s disease with BRCA1 and BRCA2 alterations and may have a similar life expectancy to those without these alterations.
Olmo says these treatments are already being used in European countries and Spain.Right now we’re using them in what we call compassionate use, or clinical trials. These results support its inclusion in the health system as a new standard treatment.” The Madrid hospital’s statement states that the diagnosis of alterations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 was added to the Ministry of Health’s portfolio of services two weeks ago. PARP inhibitors are the first agent directed against a therapeutic target that has been shown to extend survival in patients with advanced prostate cancer, the Oct. 12 note says, establishing that for the implementation of this form of precision medicine into routine care It is necessary to determine whether the tumor has the therapeutic target to which the treatment is aimed and whether the drug is available in the healthcare system.