Results from a major new study called PRIMA, just revealed at one of the biggest cancer meetings in the world, could make an important difference for women who have just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The study found that women who took a PARP inhibitor drug called Zejula (also called niraparib) right after their chemotherapy at the beginning of their treatment regimen lived about five and a half months longer without their cancer getting any worse than the women who did not take Zejula. And for women who had a genetic characteristic in their ovarian cancer called "homologous recombination deficiency," the benefit in progression-free survival was even bigger about 22 months, compared with about 10 and a half months for those who didn't take Zejula.
The study was especially significant because previously, it was thought that only women with a BRCA mutation would benefit from taking PARP inhibitors right after their initial treatment.
Read More