A possible new way to target tumours was being heralded today after a study from the Institute of Cancer Research showed unexpectedly strong results in prostate cancer sufferers.
A drug owned by AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and approved last year for ovarian cancer patients with inherited mutations in their tumour supressing genes was tested on 49 men with untreatable prostate cancer.
The men also carried genetic mutations that obstructed their cells’ ability to repair damaged DNA.
Results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed fourteen of the men responded especially well and survived much longer expected given their advanced cancers.
Mike Mitchell, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, said the study demonstrated that prostate cancers with specific mutations can be targeted and treated.
Olaparib, produced under the trade name Lynparza, will now be tested again and could become a standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer.
A spokeswoman at Astra said: “We already have an ongoing phase II study, exploring the activity of olaparib in combination with abiraterone in patients with metastatic prostate, which is scheduled to read out in 2017.”
She added that the pharma giant was also looking at testing the drug in breast, gastric and pancreatic cancer.
Mike Mitchell, at Panmure, said the study “reinforces the view that cancer treatment (along with other diseases) will be increasingly targeted not by where in the body a tumour is located, but by understanding and targeting specific genetic sequences/mutations.”
Companies also looking at the genetic mutations, rather than where the cancer is in the body include Aim-listed Horizon Discovery (LON:HZD), a client of Panmure.
“We anticipate that the focus and pace of development across the industry will be increasingly driven by advances such as those being discussed today,” Panmure said.