Benedict B Benigno
Northside Hospital, USA
Title: The Use of PARP inhibitors in the management of patients with recurrent cancer of the ovary
Biography
Biography: Benedict B Benigno
Abstract
Cytotoxic chemotherapy, in one form or another, has been used to treat patients with cancer of the ovary for over 60 years. These drugs are poisonous, and the dosage and interval between treatments are modified only by the body’s ability to withstand repetitive poisoning. Chemotherapy works by interfering with cell division and is extremely toxic. For the past two years, oncologists have had access to an entirely new and exciting class of drugs, the PARP inhibitors, and they have revolutionized the care of these patients. PARP inhibitors work at the very strands of the DNA. The PARP enzyme helps repair single strand breaks in the DNA of the cancer cell, thus allowing the cancer cell to survive and continue acting as a cancer cell. When this enzyme is inhibited, the cancer cell dies. I will go into the use of these drugs and their mechanism of action, duration of response, and complications. I will spend considerable time discussing the importance of genetic testing in patients with ovarian cancer, and how mutations in the BRCA gene are related to the use of the PARP inhibitor drugs.