New Drug: Talazoparib for prostate cancer and breast cancer

Talazoparib for prostate cancer and breast cancerActive ingredient: talazoparib Brand name (sponsor): Talzenna (Pfizer) Presentation: 0.1 mg, 0.25 mg, 0.35 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg capsules Route of administration: oral Approved indications:• in combination with enzalutamide for the treatment of patients with homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC)• treatment of patients with a deleterious or suspected deleterious germline breast cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA) mutation according to a validated diagnostic test, who have human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer Background:The body has several mechanisms for repairing breaks in strands of DNA.One mechanism is homologous recombination repair (HRR).Mutation of genes involved in HRR, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BReast CAncer genes 1 and 2), are associated with increased risk of a range of cancers, including breast, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancer.Another DNA repair mechanism involves the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) enzymes.In people with susceptible cancers, especially with HRR gene defects, inhibition of PARP increases DNA damage in the cancer cells and results in cell death.Olaparib and niraparib are PARP inhibitors that were approved in 2016 and 2021, respectively.