AstraZeneca and Merck have stated that they want to move forward in the early stages of breast cancer

AstraZeneca and Merck’s Lynparza could be an important new tool in the fight against breast cancer, after data released before the biggest annual oncology conference showed that recurrence rates in patients with BRCA genetic mutations are significantly reduced.

David Fredrickson, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president of oncology, said the company’s focus on “earlier and smarter interventions” is helping to cure many types of cancer. Pharmaceutical companies will send test data to regulators to approve this situation.

According to the OlympiA study, taking Lynparza on regular treatment – chemotherapy, surgery and sometimes radiotherapy – was estimated to reduce the risk of life-threatening death by 42% within three years. The research will be published in the journal New England Journal of Medicine and presented at its annual meeting of the American Clinical Oncology Association (ASCO) this weekend.

“Overnight, the prognosis of these women goes from not being a therapy specifically targeted to their type of cancer to being a therapy,” Fredrickson said.

AstraZenecarena innovation in oncology in recent years has helped turn the Anglo-Swedish drug maker’s performance around. Oncology sales of Lynparza, Tagrisso and Imfinzi drugs in the first quarter increased by 20 per cent from year to year. Merck, a US pharmaceutical company, has been a pioneer in immunotherapy – which uses the immune system to target tumors – with the overproduction of Keytruda.

Fredrickson warned that a better study was needed, especially because the diagnosis of cancer has dropped during the pandemic, to take advantage of therapies that work well when given early. In the UK, official data show that cancer diagnoses in phase 1 fell by a third in the early months of the pandemic compared to the same period last year.

“We have been very concerned about the damage that pandemics can cause at new rates for diagnosing and testing cancer,” he said.

Launched in 2014, Lynparza has shown success in treating already widespread and incurable breast and ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer. Parp is known as an inhibitor that targets the weakness of the cancer DNA repair system.

About 15 percent of people with breast cancer are called triple negative with cancers that do not respond to other therapies, many of which have one of the two BRCA mutations, which affects the body’s ability to remove tumors.

Andrew Tutt, a professor at the Institute for Cancer Research, who chaired the board of directors that oversees the trial, said that BRCA mutation tests are often used to determine the risk of developing cancer. But if this drug is approved, oncologists should use the diagnosis to select patients who are appropriate for the drug.

“This is a completely new way to use cancer genetics in the healing environment,” he said.

Lori J. Pierce, president of the American Clinical Oncology Association, said the results could have a “significant impact” on treatment decisions for this subset of patients.

“OlympiA’s findings highlight the need for genetic testing of BRCA mutations in patients diagnosed with high-risk breast cancer,” he said.

Also at the ASCO conference, Novartis will share the results of a trial using a new type of radiotherapy, known as radioligand, in metastasis resistant to prostate cancer castration, which significantly improved survival rates combined with regular treatment.

Amgen will share data on the survival of Lumakras cancer drugs KRAS – formerly known as “Drifting target” – the main oncogenic switch that turns cells into cancer. Recently, the drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for patients with small cell lung cancer with a specific genetic mutation.