In the news: Inherited cancers
The drug, olaparib, has been recommended for approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for women with ovarian cancer caused by inherited BRCA gene mutations.
Early trials suggest the drug could also be effective against aggressive, advanced prostate cancer linked to genetic defects, even when they are not inherited. Potentially, it could also be used to treat other, solid tumour cancers driven by similar DNA repair mutations, says cancer specialist, Professor Johann de Bono, from the Institute of Cancer Research, in London.
