PARP inhibitors help extend the amount of time that certain women can live without their ovarian cancer coming back after treatment. For women with advanced ovarian cancer, what this means is that, while their cancer may not be “cured,” they can go on living with their cancer being “kept in check,” so to speak, thanks to the PARP inhibitor drugs. Doctors often refer to the amount of time that someone can live without their cancer coming back or getting any worse as “progression-free survival.”
For many women with ovarian cancer, this results in an improved quality of life. But some women might experience side effects, such as fatigue, nausea, and sometimes bone marrow suppression, which means a drop in certain blood counts.
Read MorePARP inhibitors are available to almost all women, though women with BRCA gene mutations or who are HRD proficient may benefit the most from these drugs. However, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released new guidelines recommending PARP inhibitors be offered to women, with or without genetic mutations, who are newly diagnosed with stage III or IV ovarian cancer and have improved with chemotherapy.
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