A top Sparrow physician and researcher recently spoke to a prestigious national conference about Sparrow’s participation in a groundbreaking study of a cancer drug for patients with genetic mutations.
The results of the phase 2 Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study were presented by Gordan Srkalovic, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director of the Sparrow Herbert-Herman Cancer Center, at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. ASCO is the primary study sponsor and manages all aspects of the study.
The findings, based on responses from 28 patients with 16 different types of tumors, suggest the drug talazoparib may be effective in any cancer that has a BRCA1/2 mutation – which results in uncontrollable cell growth and the inability to repair damaged DNA. The results exceeded researchers’ expectations.
“Nobody expected such a high response rate because these patients have advanced disease, and they were heavily pretreated and had exhausted all the other standard-of-care treatment options,” Dr. Srkalovic said.
Women with BRCA1/2 genes have up to a 75 percent risk of developing breast cancer and up to a 50 percent risk of developing ovarian cancer during their lifetime. While risks in male carriers are not as high as female BRCA mutation carriers, they still face an increased potential of breast and pancreatic cancer, as well as an elevated risk of aggressive prostate cancer.
“This result opens an avenue for the treatment of cancers other than breast and ovarian ,” Dr. Srkalovic said.
You can read more about the work of Dr. Srkalović in this INTERVIEW