A UCL-led international study has discovered that combining niraparib with standard prostate cancer therapy can significantly slow disease progression in men with specific genetic mutations.
A major international study led by University College London (UCL) researchers has found that adding niraparib to standard prostate cancer therapy can substantially slow the progression of aggressive prostate cancer in men with specific DNA repair gene mutations. Published in Nature Medicine, the Phase III AMPLITUDE trial involved 696 men across 32 countries. Results showed that the drug combination reduced the risk of cancer growth by 37 percent overall and nearly 50 percent in men with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. “By combining with niraparib we can delay the cancer returning and hopefully significantly prolong life expectancy,” said Professor Gerhardt Attard of UCL Cancer Institute. Patients receiving niraparib also experienced slower symptom worsening, with only 16 percent showing major decline compared to 34 percent on standard therapy. Although side effects such as anemia were more common, researchers described the findings as a major advance toward precision medicine for prostate cancer.