AstraZenica said it presented positive results of the Phase III OlympiAD trial of Lynparza (olaparib) on patients with HER2-negative gBRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago, and the results were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of Lynparza (olaparib) versus standard chemotherapy using capecitabine, vinorelbine or eribulin, AstraZenica said in a release. Three hundred and two patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer with germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations participated in the trial. The Lynparza patients were 42 percent less likely for their disease to progress or to die compared to the chemotherapy patients.
“The OlympiAD data presented today demonstrate the benefit of olaparib in delaying the progression of advanced BRCA-mutated breast cancer," Mark Robson, clinic director of the Clinical Genetics Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and principal investigator of OlympiAD, said in the release. "With few alternatives available, a targeted non-chemotherapy oral treatment in this setting could be a beneficial new option for patients.”
Of the approximately one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S., one third are diagnosed at the metastatic stage or progress to that stage of the disease. In addition, women with mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Once the cancer metastasizes, there is no cure. The current goal of treatment is to slow disease progression while maintaining or improving the patient's quality of life.
“The OlympiAD results shared today mark the first time a targeted therapy shows benefit over the current standard of care for patients with HER2-negative gBRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer," AstraZeneca Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development, and Chief Medical Officer Sean Bohen said in the release. "This also represents an important milestone for Lynparza as this is the first positive Phase III trial in which a PARP inhibitor has shown a significant benefit for patients outside of ovarian cancer.”
