PARP inhibitors: study uncovers novel mechanism of action

A novel molecular mechanism has been uncovered for PARP inhibitors, which could lead the way for this drug to be used for the treatment of many other cancer types. The study also uncovered a potential biomarker, which might indicate which patients could benefit from PARP inhibitors. “These findings could increase the patient population benefiting from these drugs by two, three, or four-fold. Up to 70% of breast cancer patients could now be good candidates,” explained W. Lee Kraus UT Southwestern Medical Center (TX, USA). “We have found that PARP inhibitors can act by a mechanism that is different from those previously identified, which...