A Study of Olaparib Prior to Surgery and Chemotherapy in Ovarian, Primary Peritoneal, and Fallopian Tube Cancer

Original registry description

This is a study that will look at the effects and how useful investigational drug olaparib is as a neoadjuvant treatment (treatment given as to shrink a tumor before the main treatment) prior to surgery in patients with recurrent ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer.

Olaparib belongs to a class of anti-cancer agents known as poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Olaparib is a new type of drug for ovarian cancer. Laboratory tests show that it may help slow the growth of ovarian cancer. Olaparib works by blocking the PARP protein. PARP is an important protein which tries to fix damaged deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA, molecules that contain important instructions for the development of cells). Many cancers are thought to develop from damaged DNA. Research has shown that PARP inhibitors stop the PARP protein from working, and that sometimes that can cause cancer cells to stop growing or die.