Dr. Traina on PARP Inhibition in BRCA-Mutated Breast Cancer

Tiffany A. Traina, MD, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the prevalence of BRCA mutations in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

The prevalence of germline BRCA mutations is difficult to fully understand because physicians are not clear what the ultimate denominator is. The data presented at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium showed that there are patients who should undergo clinical genetic testing so they can be aware of their germline BRCA status, says Traina.

The data prior to the conference was related to the PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza). Data from the OlympiAD study revealed single-agent olaparib oral therapy was superior to physicians' choice of chemotherapy. That arm included capecitabine, eribulin (Halaven), or vinorelbine. Olaparib had about a 40% improvement in median progression-free survival for women with germline BRCA mutations with metastatic disease. The safety profile was very tolerable relative to cytotoxic chemotherapy.