AZ/Merck & Co’s Lynparza delays spread of pancreatic cancer

AstraZeneca and Merck & Co’s Lynparza could offer a new option for certain patients with pancreatic cancer after a trial showed it slowed progression of the disease. Lynparza (olaparib) is a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, or PARP inhibitor class drug and is already established as a therapy for ovarian and breast cancer with BRCA mutations. The results add to the evidence that Lynparza and perhaps other PARP class drugs could work in other types of cancer that have the mutation, after approvals in ovarian and breast cancer.
They are also significant as pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat, only causing symptoms when it has become well established, meaning survival rates are low. Phase 3 results from the POLO trial show that the drug could be a maintenance therapy option in patients with germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, whose disease has not progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy. Results showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival with Lynparza compared with placebo, AZ said.