We’ve joined forces with 6 other UK charities to call for research into whether drugs called a PARP inhibitors, already used to treat cancer, could one day be used to prevent cancer in people at high genetic risk.
Together with Yorkshire Cancer Research, Cancer Research UK, Ovarian Cancer Action, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer UK and Worldwide Cancer Research we’ve set out our collective position on the potential of PARP inhibitors as a preventative treatment.
Understanding PARP inhibitors
If you have an altered BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, you have an increased risk of developing breast, ovarian, prostate, and pancreatic cancers.
PARP inhibitors are a type of targeted therapy. These drugs block a protein called PARP, which helps cells repair themselves if they become damaged.
Cancer cells with altered BRCA genes are less able to repair themselves if they become damaged. Because PARP inhibitors also help stop the cancer cells repairing themselves, these cancer cells then become too damaged to survive.
PARP inhibitors being used to treat several different cancers is testament to the tireless efforts of world-class researchers – including many funded by Breast Cancer Now and other UK charities […] Now, we are excited to be a part of this group of charities driving forward research into the potential of using PARP inhibitors to stop cancer developing in the first place for people at high risk due to their genes.
Dr Simon Vincent
Chief scientific officer at Breast Cancer Now
BRCA gene changes and cancer
It’s estimated 1 in 400 people in the UK have an altered BRCA gene, but a high proportion of people with a high-risk gene for cancer are unaware of it.
In some groups, like people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, people from the Shetlands and people with ancestral links to Greenland, the risk is estimated to be up to 10 times higher. This means more than 150,000 people could be living with a significantly increased risk of cancer without knowing it.
Right now, some people with BRCA gene changes may be offered preventive surgery, regular screening, or medications like Tamoxifen. But these options aren’t suitable for everyone, and some can be life-changing or emotionally difficult.
So, we’re calling on the research community to pioneer early-stage studies and clinical trials that could transform the future for people with BRCA1 and BRCA2 alterations.
Funding more research into cancer prevention
The potential of PARP inhibitors for cancer prevention was hinted at in the OlympiA trial. This study showed the drugs may reduce the risk of a second new cancer in people with breast cancer and an altered BCRA gene. Now, we want to know if these drugs could stop cancer before it starts.
- But, before any clinical trials can begin, researchers need to answer key questions like:
- How do how PARP inhibitors work in healthy people with BRCA alterations?
- Would people be open to taking PARP inhibitors as a preventive measure?
- What dose would be safe and effective?
- What would the side effects be?
We’re calling for more investment in prevention research, which remains underfunded. Recent data from the National Institute for Health and Care Research shows just £22 million is currently being spent on cancer prevention compared to £195 million on cancer research as a whole.
This research could mark the beginning of a new era in precision cancer prevention. We’re seeing a growing need for more personalised, less invasive options for people at high genetic risk of cancer. PARP inhibitors could be part of that future.
Dr Kathryn Scott
Chief Executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research