Lynparza Leads to Longer Survival in Men With Prostate Cancer

Treatment with Lynparza (olaparib) at 300 mg twice daily effectively improved survival in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

This phase three trial randomly assigned 256 patients to receive Lynparza and 131 patients to receive either Xtandi (enzalutamide) at 160 mg once daily or Zytiga (abiraterone) at 1,000 mg once daily in addition to prednisone at 5 mg twice daily as the control therapy.

Cohort A had 245 patients with at least one alteration in BRCA1, BRCA2 or ATM. Cohort B had 142 patients with at least one alteration of the 12 other prespecified genes.

Results showed that in cohort A, the median overall survival was 19.1 months for those who received Lynparza , and 14.7 months for those in the control group. In cohort B, median overall survival was 14.1 months with Lynparza and 11.5 months in the control group.

Those in cohort A who received Lynparza had a significantly longer survival than those in the control group, and death risk was 31% lower with Lynparza than in the control group. There were 148 and 100 deaths in cohorts A and B, respectively.

Overall population survival was 17.3 months with Lynparza and 14 months in the control group. In the control group 86 out of 131 patients switched over to receive Lynparza, 56 of them in cohort A. Although authors note, “earlier treatment with olaparib may have an advantage over its use late in the disease course.”

Median time until second progression or death for those in cohort A was 15.5 months with Lynparza and 10.6 months in control therapy. For those in cohort B was 9.9 months and 7.9 months, and overall population was 13.4 months and 9.7 months.

The most common side effects related to Lynparza were amenia, nausea and fatigue or asthenia (feeling weak or overly tired). Side effects from the control therapy were fatigue or asthenia, nausea and decreased appetite.