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World J Gastroenterol. May 7, 2021; 27(17): 1943-1958
Published online May 7, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i17.1943
BRCA mutated pancreatic cancer: A change is coming
Michael N Rosen, Rachel A Goodwin, Michael M Vickers
Michael N Rosen, Rachel A Goodwin, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa K1H 8L6, Ontario, Canada
Michael M Vickers, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Center, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa K1H 8L6, Ontario, Canada
Author contributions: Rosen MN, Goodwin RA and Vickers MM made contributions to the conception and design of the study; Rosen MN was involved in drafting and revising the manuscript; all authors reviewed the review and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Michael N Rosen and Michael M Vickers declare no conflict of interest for this topic. Rachel A Goodwin has received compensation for an advisory role with AstraZeneca.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Michael M Vickers, FRCPC, MD, Assistant Professor, Doctor, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Center, The University of Ottawa, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa K1H 8L6, Ontario, Canada. mvickers@toh.ca
Received: January 25, 2021
Peer-review started: January 25, 2021
First decision: February 27, 2021
Revised: March 4, 2021
Accepted: April 13, 2021
Article in press: April 13, 2021
Published online: May 7, 2021
Processing time: 94 Days and 1.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Recent advances in the field of BRCA-mutated pancreatic cancer suggest that these patients benefit from platinum-based chemotherapy regimens. In light of new findings from the Pancreas Cancer Olaparib Ongoing trial, patients with germline BRCA mutations may benefit from maintenance treatment with olaparib, a Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors following response to platinum-based chemotherapy. Based on these important findings, all pancreatic cancer patients should be offered early access to genetic screening in order to identify patients who will benefit from these therapies.