Timing tweak in treatment leads to major breakthrough

Cambridge study offers hope for BRCA-related breast cancer

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For years, patients with inherited BRCA-related breast cancers have faced limited treatment success. Now, a Cambridge University-led researchers may have found a way to change that — a simple tweak in treatment timing resulted in 100 per cent survival three years after surgery.

In the new approach, patients first received chemotherapy, followed by a targeted cancer drug called olaparib before undergoing surgery. The results were striking: Of the 39 patients treated this way only one patient relapsed and all survived the crucial three-year period post-surgery, compared with 88 per cent of those who had chemotherapy alone.