Tag Archives: BRCA2

The Roles of P53, BRCA1, and PTEN in Hereditary Cancers – Lauren Fitzgerald, Contributor

Cancer results from accumulated mutations in the cancer cell’s genome. These mutations can occur spontaneously in any cell throughout an individual’s lifetime, often increasing with age or exposure to carcinogenic or mutagenic compounds. These are called somatic mutations that do not exist in every cell, and cannot be passed along from one generation to the next. However, in approximately 5 to 10% of all cancer cases, mutations are passed along through the germ line and can predispose an individual to various types of cancers. Continue reading →

ROCA Ovarian Cancer Test for Early Detection

Each year, about 20,000 women in the United States get ovarian cancer. Among women in the United States, ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death, after lung and bronchus, breast, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. In 2012 (the most recent year numbers are available)— 20,785 women in the United States were diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and 14,404 women in the United States died from ovarian cancer. Continue reading →

PARP inhibitor rejected by FDA Advisory Committee, then Approved for refractory patients

In June 2014, the FDA Oncology Drug Advisory Committee voted 11-2 to delay approval of AstraZeneca’s olaparib, a PARP (poly-ADP ribose polymerase) inhibitor for maintenance therapy in patients with ovarian cancer.  The product received Accelerate Approval designation from the FDA, which provides for conditional approval pending follow-up studies, based on surrogate endpoints from Phase 2 trials, in this case, progression-free survival (PFS).  Continue reading →