Saima Hassan, MD, PhD, FRCSC, a principal scientist and surgical oncologist at Centre de Recherche du CHUM, and an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine at Université de Montréal, discusses the mechanism of action of talazoparib (Talzenna) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

One of the mechanisms of action of talazoparib is synthetic lethality, which is how the agent functions in a 

-mutant setting, according to Hassan. If there are 2 hits and the inhibition of PARP, a problem exists within the homologous recombination capacity that leads to genomic instability and cell death.

 through other mechanisms, homologous recombination defects, or other elements of 

ness, could be present, Hassan says. Moreover, the PARP DNA trapping that is involved could help to explain 1 of the agent's mechanisms, in which there could be efficacy in a 

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Saima Hassan, MD, PhD, FRCSC, discusses the mechanism of action of talazoparib in triple-negative breast cancer.

Dr. Hassan on the Mechanism of Action of Talazoparib in TNBC

Saima Hassan, MD, PhD, FRCSC, a principal scientist and surgical oncologist at Centre de Recherche du CHUM, and an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine at Université de Montréal, discusses the rationale for examining talazoparib (Talzenna) in combination with carboplatin in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Talazoparib is a PARP inhibitor that has demonstrated potency in the preclinical setting due to its PARP DNA-trapping capacity, Hassan explains. The agent is clinically comparable to other PARP inhibitors like olaparib (Lynparza), which also has a high PARP DNA-trapping capacity, Hassan says.

In the metastatic setting, talazoparib has demonstrated efficiency in improving progression-free survival in patients with a 

 mutation, as demonstrated in the phase 3 EMBRACA study (NCT01945775). The study demonstrated similar results to that of the phase 3 OlympiAD study (NCT02000622), which showed improved efficacy in patients with 

-mutated metastatic breast cancer, Hassan concludes.

Saima Hassan, MD, PhD, FRCSC, discusses the rationale for examining talazoparib in combination with carboplatin in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Saima Hassan MD, PhD, FRCSC

Articles

Dr. Hassan on the Mechanism of Action of Talazoparib in TNBC

Dr. Hassan on the Rationale for Examining Talazoparib Plus Carboplatin in TNBC