Breast and ovarian cancer drug could help people with bladder cancer

A treatment for breast and ovarian cancer could help patients with a common type of bladder cancer, a UK study involving Southampton researchers has suggested.

A large UK phase II trial, consisting of multiple studies, is testing treatments for different subtypes of urinary tract cancer. It focuses on cancer that has grown into surrounding tissues or spread elsewhere in the body.

The first of these studies, led by Dr Simon Crabb from the University of Southampton, has now been presented at the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers symposium.

Targeted treatments

Urothelial cancer, also known as transitional cell carcinoma, starts in urothelial cells which line the bladder. These cells also line other parts of the urinary tract, including the tubes which carry urine to and from the bladder.

Patients have biomarker pre-screening while receiving chemotherapy. They can then take part in various studies in the trial, each investigating different targeted treatments. Which studies they can take part in depends on which biomarkers they have.

In Dr Crabb’s study, patients who were positive for a biomarker for DRD were treated with rucaparib (Rubraca), which is a PARP inhibitor.

PARP is a protein found in our cells and helps damaged cells to repair themselves. Rucaparib works by stopping the PARP protein from doing its repair work in cancer cells, so the cell dies.

Patients living longer

Patients were randomly allocated to receive treatment within 10 weeks after finishing chemotherapy with either 600 mg of rucaparib twice daily or a placebo, until disease progression.

Rucaparib was found to extend survival by 35.3 weeks, compared to 15.1 weeks with a placebo.

Dr Simon Crabb, Associate Professor in Medical Oncology, said: “For the first time, we have randomised data that shows that PARP inhibition, which is already an established treatment for breast and ovarian cancer, has some benefit to patients with urothelial cancer and have a specific genomic biomarker.

“Phase III trials now to need to take place in a larger cohort of patients. These results suggest that treatment based on patients’ genetics could be a way forward for improving treatment.”

The trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.