An existing drug may allow patients whose terminal breast cancer has spread to the brain some precious extra time with loved ones.
Talazoparib is being trialled on patients with this incurable cancer.
Currently little can be done for patients whose tumours have spread to the brain, due to a strong blood-brain barrier protecting the brain from toxins which may be circulating in the blood.
This means drugs entering the blood stream find it harder to target cancer cells in the brain. Talazoparib is a PARP inhibitor which prevents cancer cells with altered BRCA genes from repairing their DNA, thereby killing them.
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Researchers at the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Ireland believe it is one of the few hopes.
Study lead Prof Leonie Young said secondary breast cancer tumours in the brain often alter how they repair their DNA, which “could make them vulnerable to PARP inhibitor drugs like talazoparib”.
Mum Natalie Woodford ( pictured above ), 57, of Surrey, whose breast cancer has spread, called it “encouraging”.
