Niraparib: A Review in First-Line Maintenance Therapy in Advanced Ovarian Cancer

Declarations

Funding The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.

Authorship and Conflict of interest Arnold Lee is a salaried employee of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, and declares no relevant conflicts of interest. All authors contributed to the review and are responsible for the article content.

Ethics approval, Consent to participate, Consent to publish, Availability of data and material, Code availability Not applicable.

Abstract

Niraparib (Zejula™) is a PARP inhibitor which is approved for maintenance therapy in adults with advanced ovarian cancer in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy. In a placebo-controlled phase III trial in patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer, niraparib significantly extended progression free survival in two predefined populations, namely a patient population with altered homologous-recombination DNA repair pathways [i.e. homologous-recombination deficiency positive (HRd)] and the overall trial population. A prespecified exploratory subgroup analysis indicated that niraparib was also efficacious in patients who were homologous recombination deficiency negative or homologous recombination proficient (HRp). Niraparib has a manageable tolerability profile with myelosuppression as the main safety concern. Haematological reactions were managed with monitoring and dose reduction or interruption. A weight- and platelet count- based individualised dosage regimen introduced during the trial (and subsequently approved) appeared to improve haematological tolerability. Niraparib is a useful option for first-line maintenance therapy for advanced ovarian cancer in adults who responded to platinum-based chemotherapy, regardless of homologous-recombination deficiency status and is a promising option for HRp patients, for whom maintenance treatment options are limited.

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