Gerhardt Attard, MD, PhD, FRCP, of the The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, speaks from the UK Oncology Forum (OF) 2018, held in Liverpool, UK, on the topic of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). He discusses a Phase II trial (NCT01972217) exploring the effect of abiraterone in combination with olaparib for patients with mCRPC who had previously received docetaxel. Interestingly, patients in the trial were not recruited based on biomarker selection. Despite this lack of molecular discrimination, a benefit in time taken to reach radiological progression was seen with this combination therapy. Dr Attard thus speculates the non-discriminatory mechanism of abiraterone, suggesting that it limits the ability of cancer to repair DNA damage.
Olaparib plus abiraterone for mCRPC: are biomarkers necessary?
