At the end of May, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Olaparib (Lynparza) with Abiraterone and Prednisone for the treatment of patients with advanced prostate cancer carring a BRCA mutation*, and for whom hormone therapy is no longer effective in arresting or slowing the disease.

The approval is supported by the results of a clinical trial which enrolled 796 patients with metastatic prostate cancer, resistant to hormone therapy, 85 of whom carried a BRCA mutation.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive either the standard treatment with Olaparib (study group), or the standard treatment with placebo (control group).

At the end of the follow-up period, results pointed towards a significantly lower risk of disease progression among the study group patients receiving Olaparib, especially among those carrying a BRCA mutation, compared to the control group patients receiving placebo.

Furthermore, a significantly lower death rate was observed among patients in the study group, compared to those in the control group.

The most common side effects observed among patients receiving Olaparib were a low blood count, fatigue, gastrointestinal discomfort and dizziness.

During the past few years, Olaparib has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of other types of cancer (e.g. breast cancer, ovarian cancer), its effectiveness having been proved - especially among BRCA carriers.

*The BRCA gene is involved in cell cycle control and the repair of damaged DNA.