Clinical significance of germline breast cancer susceptibility gene (gBRCA) testing and olaparib as maintenance therapy for patients with pancreatic cancer

Sep 21, 2026

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Pancreatic cancer (PC) has a poor prognosis, while germline breast cancer susceptibility gene (gBRCA) mutations are uncommon in routine practice. A retrospective study assessed whether gBRCA testing efficiently identifies mutations and whether olaparib maintenance therapy is effective and safe. Eighty-four PC patients underwent gBRCA testing between January 2021 and March 2022. Ten patients (11.9%) carried gBRCA mutations, with higher mutation rates in those with HBOC-related family history. Olaparib was given after platinum therapy, and three patients showed no progression during maintenance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Keywords

Kawamoto et al. BMC Cancer (2024) 24:1000 BMC Cancer [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12722-8](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-12722-8) RESEARCH Open Access Clinical significance of germline breast cancer susceptibility gene (gBRCA) testing and olaparib as maintenance therapy for patients with pancreatic cancer Yasuharu Kawamoto 1†, Takuo Yamai 1,2†, Kenji Ikezawa 1*, Yusuke Seiki 1, Ko Watsuji 1, Takeru Hirao 1, Makiko Urabe 1, Yugo Kai 1, Ryoji Takada 1, Kaori Mukai 1, Tasuku Nakabori 1, Hiroyuki Uehara 1, Tazuko Inoue3, Fumie Fujisawa3,4 and Kazuyoshi Ohkawa 1 Abstract Background Germline breast cancer susceptibility gene (gBRCA) mutation in patients with pancreatic cancer (PC) is not common in clinical practice. Therefore, factors that efficiently show gBRCA mutations and the real-world outcomes of olaparib maintenance therapy have not been fully established. In the present study, we clarified the indicators for the effective detection of gBRCA mutation and the efficacy and safety of olaparib as maintenance therapy. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 84 patients with PC who underwent gBRCA testing (BRACAnalysis, Myriad Genetics, Salt Lake City, UT, USA) at our institute between January 2021 and March 2022. For each patient, clinical data were extracted from medical records. Results The median patient age was 64 y (29–85 y), and 41 patients (48 . 8%) were male. The gBRCA mutations were identified in 10 (11 . 9%) patients; two patients had BRCA1 mutation and eight had BRCA2 mutation. All patients with gBRCA mutation had a family history of any cancer, and eight of them had a family history of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome (HBOC)-related cancer. The gBRCA mutation rate was higher for patients with PC with a family history of HBOC-related cancer compared to that in patients with PC having a family history of other cancersand no family history of cancer (22 . 9% vs. 4. 1%; P = 0 . 014) . In our study, eight out of 10 patients with gBRCA-positive PC received olaparib after platinum-based chemotherapy. The best responses to platinum-based chemotherapy included a complete response in one patient (12 . 5%) and a partial response in seven patients (87 . 5%) . The median duration of treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy plus olaparib was 17.5 months (8–87 months), and the duration of treatment with olaparib maintenance therapy was 11 months (1–30 months) . During olaparib maintenance therapy, †Yasuharu Kawamoto and Takuo Yamai shared co-first authorship *Correspondence: Kenji Ikezawa[ikezawa-ke@oici.jp](ikezawa-ke@oici.jp) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creativecommons.org/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by/4.0/. Kawamoto et al. BMC Cancer (2024) 24:1000 Page 2 of 7 three patients showed no disease progression. One of these three patients underwent conversion surgery after receiving olaparib for 12 months. Conclusions The gBRCA testing should be considered proactively, especially in patients with PC with a family history of HBOC-related cancer. Keywords BRACAnalysis, Family history, FOLFIRINOX, Hereditary

FAQs

How many pancreatic cancer patients underwent gBRCA testing, and when?

Eighty-four pancreatic cancer patients received gBRCA testing at the institute between January 2021 and March 2022.

What proportion of patients had gBRCA mutations, and which genes were involved?

gBRCA mutations were identified in 10 patients (11.9%). Two had BRCA1 mutations and eight had BRCA2 mutations.

What did the study find about olaparib maintenance therapy after platinum-based chemotherapy?

Among gBRCA-positive patients, eight received olaparib after platinum-based chemotherapy, and during maintenance therapy three patients showed no disease progression.

Sep 21, 2026

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