Dr. Vokes Discusses PARP Inhibitors in Lung Cancer

Everett E. Vokes, MD, Giant of Cancer Care: Head and Neck Cancer, John E. Ultmann Professor Chair, Department of Medicine, Physician-in-Chief, University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences, discusses the administration of PARP inhibitors as treatments for patients with lung cancer.

Mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes have a detrimental impact on DNA repair. In many situations, these mutations are inherited; however, they can also be acquired, Vokes says. 

Further inhibition of the DNA repair mechanism through PARP inhibition results in antitumor activity. To accomplish this, PARP inhibitors are being examined in patients with lung cancer directly after a patient has received radiation. PARP inhibition is thought to augment the DNA damage already delivered by radiation, resulting in tumor cell death through a synthetic lethality, Vokes notes.

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