Rucaparib May Potentially Benefit Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Rucaparib, an (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer

may have potential clinical benefit for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer and a BRCA1/2

mutation, according to findings from a phase 2 trial.

With a poor prognosis and limited treatment options, pancreatic cancer is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer death by 2020. Approximately 9% of pancreatic cancers have a BRCA1 or BRCA2

mutation. As studies of BRCA1/2

mutations in breast and ovarian cancer have shown clinical benefit with PARP inhibitors, researchers sought to determine the clinical benefit in patients with pancreatic cancer.

The global, phase 2 study enrolled 19 patients aged 18 and older with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer with a known BRCA1/2

mutation between April 2014 and April 2016. Patients could have received up to 2 prior lines of chemotherapy but could not have received prior therapy with a PARP inhibitor.

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