At the Gemelli Polyclinic, the first drug for pancreatic cancer from 'Jolie genes'

At the Gemelli Irccs Polyclinic in Rome, the program for the compassionate use of the first drug for pancreatic cancer linked to mutations in the BRCA genes, the same as actress Angelina Jolie, is underway. This alteration, known for increasing the risk of breast and ovarian cancers, is now also being targeted for the onset of pancreatic neoplasia, one of the most aggressive.

Targeting the mutation with a specific drug can slow the progression of the disease, offering new hope to patients. This is the strategy pursued with olaparib, used for ovarian and breast cancers characterized by this genetic anomaly.

"The drug does not yet have an indication for the pancreas, and therefore is not reimbursable," explains Dr. Cinzia Bagalà, oncologist at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Gemelli, to Adnkronos Salute, "but, thanks to the results of the Polo study, a compassionate use program has been launched that allows us to receive the drug from the company and give it to patients with BRCA 1 or 2 gene mutations and metastatic pancreatic cancer, who have responded well to a particular chemotherapy regimen." For patients, this means replacing chemo with pills to be taken at home: "This is the first maintenance therapy for these cases, and moreover, a home-based therapy," the oncologist emphasizes.

The goal is that by taking the drug, after a few cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy, "the pancreatic tumor and metastases," continues Bagalà, "remain stable. But we believe, based on the available clinical data, that there may be a further therapeutic response and that the disease may continue to shrink."

According to the results of the Polo study, presented in June at the latest congress of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), compared to placebo, maintenance therapy with olaparib reduces the risk of disease progression by 47%. This is significant, given that the current standard of therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer offers a median progression-free survival of only 6 months. And until now, no maintenance treatment for this neoplasia had improved progression-free survival.

So, even for the pancreas, the hunt for the mutation is on. "It is now increasingly common in clinical practice, even for pancreatic cancer," says Bagalà, "to perform the BRCA genetic test: if the gene is mutated, we can give the patient the most effective chemotherapy and then have a maintenance therapy available." Even for this cancer, albeit in small steps, research is paving the way for 'tailor-made' treatments, based on the patient's gene-molecular profile mutations.

Original Article: https://www.adnkronos.com/al-policlinico-gemelli-il-primo-farmaco-per-il-tumore-al-pancreas-da-geni-...