Olaparib tablets safe in patients with relapsed ovarian cancer

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to new results presented at the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research - American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 10th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium, olaparib, in oral tablet form rather than capsule form, administered in combination carboplatin and paclitaxel was found to be safe for the treatment of patients with relapsed ovarian cancer.

In the phase 1b clinical study, researchers enrolled 14 patients between ages 42 and 77 with relapsed ovarian cancer. Patients received carboplatin and paclitaxel once weekly for 3 weeks of a 28-day cycle in combination with escalated doses of olaparib. Researchers found the maximum tolerable dose of olaparib to be 150 mg two times per day for 3 consecutive days weekly of each cycle.

Of 12 patients able to be evaluated, four experienced a complete response, four had a partial response, two had stable disease, and two experienced disease progression. In regard to safety, bone marrow suppression was the most common grade 3 toxicity, as expected with carboplatin and paclitaxel.

The study results also suggest that those patients with BRCA mutations detected in their tumors may have responded better compared with those who did not have a mutation. Researchers plan to initiate a phase 2 extension study.