‘Life-changing’ ovarian cancer pill licensed for use in Britain

A “MILESTONE” pill treatment that holds back ovarian cancer and has the potential to prolong life has been licensed for use in Britain.

Niraparib is from a class of drugs known as Parp inhibitors, which target cancers with defective DNA repair sys- tems. Trial results have shown that the pill can give patients months of time before the disease returns after chemotherapy.

In some women with an inherited BRCA gene mutation – known as the “Jolie gene” after Angelina Jolie, the Hollywood actress, who carries the mutation – the time to relapse increased from five and a half months to 21 months, compared with chemotherapy alone.

Niraparib was also shown to help women without a BRCA mutation to a lesser degree, doubling the length of time before recurrence.

The drug is now licensed for use in the UK, but is yet to be assessed for free availability on the NHS. Prof Jonathan Ledermann, of the University College London Cancer Institute, said: “Niraparib is the first treatment of its class licensed to delay the progression of ovarian cancer following platinumbased chemotherapy, regardless of BRCA status. This is a critical milestone in the management of ovarian cancer.

“Access to effective and tolerable medicines is sorely needed and the hope is that niraparib will be available in the NHS as quickly as possible.”

Parp, which stands for poly (Adp-ribose) polymerase, is a molecule that repairs damage to DNA, stopping cell death. Parp inhibitors stop this process happening in cancer cells.

Each year, around 7,400 women in the UK are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 4,128 die from the disease. Roughly 85 per cent of patients will experience recurrence after treatment.

Decisions about what drugs are offered to NHS patients in England and Wales follow recommendations of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). The Scottish Medicines Consortium provides similar guidelines in Scotland.

Katherine Taylor, the chief executive of the charity Ovarian Cancer Action, said: “Today’s news is an encouraging step in the right direction but we now need to ensure all UK women diagnosed with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer can benefit.

“We call upon [Nice and the SMC] to approve this drug to provide more treatment options for those diagnosed with ovarian cancer – for many, this could be life changing.”