The Current and Future Role of PARP Inhibitors

During a symposium session at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2018 Annual Meeting, Joyce F Liu, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine for the Gynecologic Oncology Program at Susan F Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues discussed the current and future role of PARP inhibitors in treatment of ovarian cancer.

The symposium, titled “Beyond the Guidelines: Investigator Perspectives on the Current and Future Role of PARP Inhibition in the Management of Ovarian Cancer,” covered the biologic rationale for PARP inhibition, the current role of PARP inhibition, tolerability considerations for PARP inhibition, and investigation applications and other novel uses of FDA approved PARP inhibitors in cancer treatment.

Dr Liu explained the current FDA indications and ways to optimize integration of the three approved PARP inhibitors into oncology care algorithms. 

According to her presentation use of PARP inhibitors as maintenance therapies may be on the horizon, based on response rates observed in phase 3 PARP inhibitor maintenance trials.

Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, Medical Director at the Nordic Society of Gynecologic Oncology discussed how clinical trials and emerging data could impact clinical practice in the future. He explained that two new PARP inhibitors, veliparib and talazoparib, are currently undergoing clinical trials and could soon impact clinical practice. He also discussed how these therapies differ from currently approved PARP inhibitors. 

He concluded by suggesting that oncologists understand how PARP inhibitors fit in with chemotherapy treatment and use this information to refer the appropriate eligible patients for clinical trials.

—David Costill

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