I'm a little confused about the olaparib as i am recently doing some research myself.
Ladies who are taking the Olaparib, are you taking the capsules or tablets?
Are there differences between them? The tablets comes in market later, and more expensive?
And are there other options now if the Olaparib stops working...?
Hiya mine come in capsule form, I take 8 twice a day. It's quite a challenge but doable. I was told they do come in tablet form but I receive the capsule. As far as I'm aware (no expert) they both do the job 😀
Hi, Emalou71. Thank you for your reply.
How long have you been taking Olaprib, and any side effects? And how long did it take for you to see the decrease of the CA 125 in blood test?
My mom just started taking them a week ago, in capsules too. There has not been much sign of the side effects, but we ran the blood test today. Unfortunately, the CA125 increased...
In the UK, olaparib comes in capsule form unless you're on a clinical trial, in which case you get the tablets. The tablets have been approved by the FDA in the US for everyone to use, but the equivalent hasn't happened yet in the UK setting. The dosages are different but they are regarded as equal in terms of drug delivery. The advantage of the tablets is that the standard dose is only two tablets twice a day.
Hi, Alstroemeria!
Thank you for your information!
Alas...neither capsules nor tablets have been approved in China so far...so my mom is taking the Olaparib on her own. (She is the mutated BRCA1 gene carrier, and her doctor did recommend it as the treatment, it's just that we need to get the drug elsewhere on our own, and the doctor can't give us much of advise as how should we take it)
So we are gathering all the information regarding the drugs, and alternative treatment methods.
Have you heard of other drugs targeting on the Ovrian Cancer?
Hi again. Well, given that your mum is BRCA1+ (as I am), the key drugs are the platinum chemotherapies (carboplatin, cisplatin). Olaparib is a targeted drug for BRCA mutations but my understanding is that it works best when used as a maintenance treatment following successful platinum chemo (i.e. chemo that has led to a full or partial reduction in visible tumour). However, this is a relatively new field and the research is producing new knowledgeand information all the time.
There are many threads about olaparib and other PARP inhibitors on ovarian cancer forums, including this one and also the OCNA Inspire forum in North America. I would also recommend videos on YouTube which feature Jonathan Lederman, a key UK researcher in this field. He is extremely good at explaining the whole BRCA mutation/PARP inhibitor business.
Yep, my mom had been doing chemo (carboplatin+taxol, then Doxorubicin+avastin, the last time was Oxaliplatin ) every time she had the relapse for the past two and half years, the cancer didn't respond to the Oxaliplatin any more (as indicated by an increase in the CA125 count), the doctor told us we ran out of the chemo options and we could try Olaparib.
I will look up into the OCNA Inspire forum, and the youtube channel.
Thank you so much!
In the US, women are taking olaparib as a stand-alone treatment in the way you describe, with some success. In that case, you will probably find the most useful info on the OCNA Inspire website. Good luck with your researching! P.S. it has changed its name to OCRFA Inspire, in case you struggle to find it. Also, search with both olaparib and its brand name Lynparza.
Thank you! Do you happens to know how to tell the effectiveness of the Olaparib besides the falling of CA125 counts. My mom has been taking them for a week, and the CA125 actually rose. Have there been any case where the patient is BRACA1 mutated carrier, but the Olaparib doesn't work?
P.S I read your post titled "Interesting research", it seems cancer always finds its ways to evolve faster than the development of the cure...sad...
hey! i found the OCRFA Inspire site quite useful. Thanks!
Hi again! I am wondering if a blood test a week after starting on olaparib may be too soon to assess if and how the drug is working? The other thing to remember is that it can take a few weeks to register a significant change in the CA125 levels. In my experience, they leave at least a month between CA125 tests. Sadly, I have read of a few cases over the years where olaparib hasn't worked with BRCA1+ women but have no knowledge of why this happens or what the % is. My overall impression though is that BRCA women do well on this drug.
Hi, Alstroemeria
How have you been?
I guess my mom fells into the percentage where the Olaparib doesn't work for BRCA1+. It's been over a month, the CA125 rised from 67 to 751...
Would other PARP inhibtors work for BRCA1+ patients?
PS, I just can't fanthom how to post a discussion on the OCRFA Inspire site...I could only leave comments under discussions of the others, or I could post a journel, but I couldn't find the entry for posting the discussion...it's so frustrating....
Hi Dandaping
Good to hear from you again, but sadly not the news about your mum.
There are definitely threads on the OCRFA Inspire site about what happens when olaparib/Lynparza stops working - have you run a search? I still think this is your best bet for information, as many more women are taking olaparib in the US. From what I have read on this site and on OCRFA, women seem to go back to conventional chemo when olaparib stops working.
I don't know a lot about what happens when olaparib doesn't work, and I don't think the research is fully up to speed on this. They know that some BRCA women don't respond but not the specific reason why. Platinum-sensitivity seems to be an issue - it seems to go hand in hand with olaparib working. Did your mum respond fully or partially to platinum chemo before starting on olaparib?
In terms of starting a discussion on OCRFA Inspire, I've had a look at the site, regarding your difficulties starting a discussion. Forgive me if I'm going over old ground, but when you log on there is a box at the top of the page asking you
"Start a discussion: what would you like to talk about today?".
When you click on it, it takes you through to a second box which offers you 2 choices:
Start a discussion in a community OR Post an entry in my journal.
when you click, the box you want, it goes white with a light blue stripe along the bottom (rather than solid dark blue)
Then fill in all the boxes, and job's done.
Have you tried this, and it hasn't worked?
PS if you do manage to get this to work, always select for members only - you'll get more replies that way.
Let me know how you get on.
A xxx
P.S. There is also a closed Facebook group called PARP INHIBITORS - Drugs And Trials Might be worth joining for more specialist knowledge & experience.
Hey, Alstroemeria
Thank you for your information.
It seems that after two months, the Olaparib is slowly working, as is shown on the results of CA125 tests.
It has not yet decreased the number of the CA125, but it did slow down its pace.
And my mum keeps having these abadominol fluid, and she will arrange to have it drained next week.
Thanks again.
Hi again, I have often thought about you and wondered how you mum is doing. I am really pleased to hear that there has been some progress for your mum on olaparib. It's such an individual drug - by that, I mean that we all seem to react differently to it - but as long as the direction of travel is positive, that is very good news. Long may it continue.
Hi, thank you for thinking of us.
I got update with my mom's situation: she drained her abdominal fluid today, and did the CA125 test again, only 8 days after her last test, but the result shows it surged during the past week...from 1600 to 2100.
The doctor suggests my mom to take on chemo therapy again, but keep taking the Olaparib. But does it make any sense? I have not heard of the treatment which includes the chemo and parp altogether at the same time. I'm worried.... Does this doc knows what he is doing??
Hi again, I really wish I could answer your question but I really don't know. There is a trial running in the UK called MOLTO which accepts women for who olaparib has stopped working, who then stop taking olaparib, undergo more chemo and then restart the olaparib or olaparib/cediranib afterwards depending on their response to the chemo. I don't know anything about taking olaparib and chemo at the same time, it's not something I have come across before. Sorry I can't help with this xxx
Hi, Alstroemeria.
Thank you. You have already helped me and my mom a ton! I've already got some answers on Facebook. It seems the chemo and the Olaparib is being studied as trails in US. And it is still on the early etages. So no one could yet tell how well it goes. But fingers acrossed.
Thank you again.
Yes fingers crossed absolutely. Really glad to hear you have managed to get some info about this xxx
the link in the post today about the Lynparza and clinical trials differentiates between capsules and tablets
Olaparib
Olaparib query 
Finishing Olaparib
Olaparib as monotherapy- 1st dose
Olaparib dose reduction
