Fatigue and PARP Inhibitors
- While PARP inhibitors can be effective in prolonging the time before ovarian cancer comes back, there are also side effects.
- Two of the most common side effects are tiredness and anemia (the latter caused by a deficiency of red blood cells, or hemoglobin in the blood).
- The three PARP inhibitors currently on the market olaparib, rucaparib and niraparib have been shown to prolong progression-free survival, the time between when you have the disease and you recur.
PARP inhibitors are available to almost all women, though women with BRCA gene mutations or who are HRD proficient may benefit the most from these drugs. However, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released guidelines recommending PARP inhibitors be offered to women, with or without genetic mutations, who are newly diagnosed with stage III or IV ovarian cancer and have improved with chemotherapy.
Read MoreHow Do PARP Inhibitors Work?
Ovarian cancer usually begins on the surface of the ovary, where abnormal cells start to grow out of control, wreaking havoc on themselves. The cancer cells need to be repaired in order to spread and often do so with the help of the PARP enzyme inside the body, which is a protein designed to help repair cell damage. While PARP can help keep cancer cells growing by repairing their damaged DNA, a PARP inhibitor can stop PARP from fixing the tumorous cells, thus stopping the growth of cancer in its tracks. This is particularly true for women who have ovarian cancer caused by a BRCA mutation, a gene mutation that increases a woman's chances of getting breast or ovarian cancer. Because tumor cells with BRCA mutations already have difficulty repairing (cancerous) DNA, the PARP inhibitor can make these repairs even harder, causing the cancer cells to die off. (Through genetic testing, a woman can find out if she has a BRCA mutation or not). And since many women with advanced ovarian cancer will recur and no cure has yet been found, PARP inhibitors are offering women a new treatment that can extend their survival time. Taking this drug therapy can both decrease the chances of the cancer coming back and increase life expectancies for ovarian cancer patients.There are three different PARP inhibitors now on the market. "All three of those drugs have shown to prolong progression-free survival, the time between [when] you have the disease and you recur," says Dr. Rebecca Arend. The three PARP inhibitors currently on the market olaparib, rucaparib and niraparibare oral medications that work in similar ways, by either blocking or killing off cancer cells.
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