The new treatment approach enhances survival rates for patients with aggressive, inherited breast cancers

A new treatment approach greatly improves survival rates for patients with aggressive, inherited breast cancers, according to Cambridge researchers.

In a test where cancers were treated with chemotherapy followed by a targeted cancer drug before surgery, 100% of patients survived the critical three -year period after surgery.

The discovery, published today in Nature Communications, could be the most effective treatment to date for patients with early stage breast cancer with hereditary mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2.

Breast cancers with defective copies of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are a challenge for treatment and came to public attention when actress Angelina Jolie, BRCA1, underwent preventive double mastectomy in 2013.

The current standard therapy aims to shrink the tumor using chemotherapy and immunotherapy before removing it through surgery. The first three years after surgery is a critical period when there is the highest risk of recurrence or death.

The partner test has adopted a different approach and proves two innovations: the addition of Olaparib and chemotherapy before surgery and the benefits of careful time for when treatments are given to patients. Taken as tablets, Olaparib is a targeted drug for cancer already available in NHS.

Led by the Hospital of Antdenboke’s, part of Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust hospitals and the University of Cambridge University, the trial saw patients recruited by 23 NHS sites across the United Kingdom.

The results show that the departure from a 48 -hour “gap” between chemotherapy and Olaparib leads to better results, possibly because a patient’s bone marrow has time to recover from chemotherapy, leaving the targeted tumor cells sensitive to targeted drug.

Of the 39 patients receiving chemotherapy followed by Olaparib, only one patient is recurrent three years after surgery and 100% of patients survived.

Compared, the survival rate for the control arm was 88% three years after surgery. Of the 45 patients in the control arm who received only chemotherapy, nine patients were recurrent, of which six died.

Jackie Van Bochoven, 59, from South Cambridgeshire, was diagnosed in February 2019 with a small but aggressive volume. He said: “When I was diagnosed, I was completely overwhelmed and numb, I thought about my children and my mom and sister who were diagnosed with breast cancer. I was quite anxious.

“Six years later, I’m fine and without cancer. I’m back at work, enjoying life and spending time with my family.

The findings have the ability to apply to other cancers caused by defective copies of BRCA genes, such as some ovarian, prostate and pancreas cancers.

It may also have cost savings for NHS, as patients currently offered Olaparib receive the drug after 12 months surgery, while patients in the test took pre-surgery tablets for 12 weeks.

Addenboke’s advisor and test, Professor Jean Abraham, said: “It is rare to have a 100% survival rate in such a study for these aggressive types of cancer. We are incredibly excited about the potential of this new approach, as it is vital to find a way of treatment and hope to cure patients diagnosed with BRCA1 and BRCA2 cancers. “

Professor Abraham, who is also a medical professor for precision breast cancer at the University of Cambridge, said the test of the 48 -hour gap approach followed a “accidental discussion” with Mark O’Connor, a leading scientist at Astrazen.

Mark O’Connor added: “The partner test emphasizes the importance of detecting and treatment of cancer early and the value of innovative science in updating the design of clinical trials, in this case using bone stem cells to determine the combination timetable.

This type of collaboration between NHS, Academic and Industry reflects the vision of Cambridge’s Cancer Research Hospital, a specialist cancer hospital to be built on Cambridge Biomedical Campus campus. It will bring clinical expertise from Addenboke’s Hospital with world -class scientists from the University of Cambridge, the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Center and industry partners together in a location to create new diagnostics and treatments to detect the first signs of cancer.

One of the best ways to beat cancer earlier is the most effective use of treatments already available to us.

While this research is still young, it is an exciting discovery that the addition of Olaparib to a carefully timed treatment stage may possibly give patients with this particular type of breast cancer more time with their loved ones.

Research like this can help find safer and more polite ways of dealing with certain types of cancer. Further studies are needed in more patients to confirm whether this new technique is safe and effective enough to be used by NHS. ”

Michelle Mitchell, Managing Director of Cancer Research UK

Professor Abraham and the team are now planning the next phase of the research, which will try to reproduce the results in a larger study and confirm that the approach of partners offers a less toxic treatment for patients as well as more cost -effective, compared to today’s care.

The partner test was funded by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge, funded by Cambridge UK Cancer Research and Astrazeneca, and supported by Cambridge’s Cambridge Center, Cambridge Center Cambridge Canbridge Center Canbridge and the charity of Addenboke (ACT).