A Phase II Pilot Study of Anti-PD-L1, Durvalumab, and a PARP Inhibitor, Olaparib in Patients With Metastatic

Takeo Fujii1, Ashley Cimino-Mathews2, Stanley Lipkowitz1

  • 1Women's Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Cancer Medicine
|December 8, 2025
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

This study investigated durvalumab and olaparib combination therapy in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The treatment showed modest overall response rates, suggesting potential benefits in heavily pretreated patients.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunotherapy
  • Genetics

Background:

  • PARP inhibitors (PARPi) may enhance immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) efficacy.
  • Previous trials showed durvalumab and olaparib (D + O) benefit in BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.
  • Clinical activity of D + O in germline BRCA wild-type (gBRCAwt) triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) was previously unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the clinical activity and safety of D + O in patients with metastatic TNBC.
  • To assess overall response rate (ORR) as the primary endpoint.
  • To explore secondary endpoints including disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).

Main Methods:

  • Single-arm, Phase II study enrolling patients with metastatic TNBC.
  • Patients were assigned to gBRCAwt or gBRCAm cohorts.
  • Treatment involved durvalumab (D) and olaparib (O); correlative studies analyzed baseline biomarkers.

Main Results:

  • Fifteen patients (12 gBRCAwt, 3 gBRCAm) were enrolled.
  • Combined ORR was 28.6% (1 gBRCAwt, 3 gBRCAm) among 14 evaluable patients.
  • Median PFS was 3.6 months, median OS was 10.7 months; one gBRCAm patient achieved durable response.
  • Low baseline CD83 expression on dendritic cells correlated with longer PFS.

Conclusions:

  • D + O demonstrated modest clinical benefits in heavily pretreated metastatic TNBC.
  • Further research is needed to classify dendritic cell subtypes and validate their predictive role.
  • Prospective validation in larger cohorts is required to confirm findings.

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