Olaparib for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer.

Lay abstract The genetic material in cells, called DNA, is continually exposed to factors which can damage it. This damage must be corrected, which is done through specific DNA damage repair pathways. Mutations, which can be inheritable or arise just in the cancer itself, can occur in genes involved in DNA damage repair that impair the repair process. In 20­30% of prostate cancers, mutations are involved in genes associated with the homologous recombination repair pathway which can be taken advantage of for therapeutic effect by targeting an alternate repair pathway involving a protein called PARP. Olaparib, an inhibitor of PARP, was recently shown to improve outcomes in patients with advanced, metastatic prostate cancer harboring mutations in homologous recombination repair genes and subsequently gained approval for the treatment of such patients. This review will provide a summary of evidence regarding PARP inhibition in the treatment of prostate cancer, with a specific focus on olaparib.