A major drug trial has revealed significant benefit to using the drug Olaparib to treat breast cancer survivors, The Guardian reports.
The trial was designed to judge whether using Olaparib would reduce the recurrence of invasive cancers. Out of 921 patients on Olaparib, 106 had a recurrence of invasive cancer or died within three years, compared with 178 out of 915 patients on a placebo.
“In curative therapy trial terms, this is a really major result,” said Prof Andrew Tutt from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, who led the international trial. He explained the findings in clearer terms: For every 100 women treated, "an extra nine women ... who are alive and well, without ... a recurrence of breast cancer or the development of any other cancer."
The results of the trial have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.