Olaparib: a promising PARP inhibitor in ovarian cancer therapy

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the leading cause of death in women with gynecological cancer. Most patients are diagnosed at advanced stage with poor prognosis. Currently, surgical tumor debulking followed by chemotherapy based on platinum and taxane is the standard treatment for advanced OC. However, these patients remain at great risk for recurrence and developing drug resistance. Therefore, new treatment strategies are needed to improve outcomes for patients with advanced and recurrent OC. Olaparib (AZD2281, KU-0059436), as one of the best understood Poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor targeting DNA repair mechanisms, caused more and more attention. Clinical trial data of Olaparib had been cumulated, which applied as the single-agent in relapsed OC monotherapy, especially for BRCA mutation associated OC. In this review, we demonstrated the mechanism of PARP inhibitors and summarized clinical trial data and clinical development of Olaparib targeted OC in order to address a new promising therapy strategy for advanced relapsed OC. Given the unprecedented clinical potential of Olaparib, the further research on Olaparib will have great significance in selection of OC patient populations that will respond to treatment.