Thank you. Great forum. Sure science and medicine are always reversing themselves, but I think parp is a cure, right now, for those whose cancer was "caused" by defects from the Brca1 gene and Brca2 gene.
Based on my primitive "hearsay" layman's understanding, Brca1 and Brca2 produces defective cells, with an identifiable defect. Parp inhibitors exploit this defect only in those cells so affected, thereby killing only those defective cells.
The guarded optimism in the published reports seems to be substantially due to the fact that the parp inhibitors tested so far are only working, however dramatically, on individuals with the brca1 and Brca2 mutation, which is a small part of the total number of breast, ovarian and prostate cancer victims.
I have an interest because my mother, of Eastern European Jewish descent, developed ovarian cancer at 41 in 1976. It was at a very advanced stage. She is still alive, and in fact the only ovarian cancer survivor out of all those treated by her gynecological oncologist, according to what he told us.
Unfortunately the large amounts of radiation she was treated with severly damaged her hips, and she has suffered through nine hip surgeries. She has not been tested for the brca gene, but I am going to be, since my last psa at 52 was 3.4.
If I have PCa and brca I will do whatever it takes to get that drug, even if it means going to England or another country for it.
I believe my mother is alive because we always obtained the best medical care available and always took control of her medical care by questioning and getting second and third opinions every time.
Case in point, we found the best hospital for her last hip surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, www.HSS.EDU and the results were dramatically better than her previous surgeries, even though it meant travelling for one month to Manhattan.
Incidentally, the former PM of Israel, Olmert, chose that same Hospital group for his Prostate cancer surgery, even though Olmert had access to some of the world's best doctors and Hospitals in Israel. Olmert chose New York Presbyterian, affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical college, the same is true for Hospital for Special Surgery.
In fact, HSS and Presbyterian are next door to each other on 71 and York in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.