A Study of Rucaparib in Patients With Pancreatic Cancer and a Known Deleterious BRCA Mutation

Rucaparib is an orally available, small molecule inhibitor of poly-adenosine diphosphate \[ADP\] ribose polymerase (PARP) that inhibits a specific DNA repair pathway known as base excision repair (BER). PARP inhibitors (PARPi) have been shown to effectively kill tumors with a defect in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Clinical benefit has been observed in patients with a gBRCA mutation as well as in those with a somatic BRCA (sBRCA) mutation. Clinical data have also shown that pancreatic cancer patients with a gBRCA mutation benefit from PARPi treatment. Clinical activity of PARP inhibitors in BRCA-mutated pancreatic cancer combined with the paucity of 2nd line therapies support evaluation of rucaparib in pancreatic cancer patients known to harbor a deleterious BRCA mutation.