Canadian researchers have shown that the ‘targeted’ cancer drug olaparib, which was developed to treat cancers caused by inherited faulty versions of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, can also reduce the size of tumours in a substantial minority of ovarian cancer patients who do not carry these gene faults. The study, published in Lancet Oncology, seems to suggest that the drug can be used to treat certain women with the more common ‘sporadic’ (non-inherited) form of ovarian cancer. In total, the disease affects about 6,500 women in the UK every year.
