New Drug Combination significantly Improves Prostate cancer Survivalโ Rates
London – A novel pairing of two existing cancer drugsโ demonstrates a potential 40% increase in survival rates for men diagnosed with advanced prostateโฃ cancer, according toโ research unveiled November 12, 2025, โฃat the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid. โThe โขfindings, โstemming from โthe Phase III TRITON2 trial, offer a promising new treatment avenueโข for a disease affecting millions globally.
Prostate cancer remains โa leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men worldwide.Whileโ treatments have advanced, many patients eventually develop resistance to standard therapies. This new combination therapy-docetaxel and olaparib-targets these resistant โcancers by exploiting genetic vulnerabilities, specifically defects in DNA repair genes. The TRITON2 trial results indicate a substantial โadvancement โฃin overall survival, offering renewed hope for patients facing a grim prognosis and prompting discussions about potential shiftsโค in standard care protocols.
The TRITON2 trial, involving 385 men with metastatic โฃcastration-resistant prostate cancerโค who had previously received docetaxel, revealed a medianโข overall survival ofโฃ 16.2โ months for those receiving both โฃdocetaxel and olaparib,โข comparedโฃ to 11.5 months for those receiving docetaxel alone. This translatesโค to a 40% reduction in the risk of death. Researchers emphasized the importance โฃof genetic testingโ to identify patients most likely to benefit from the olaparib โฃcomponent of the treatment.
“These are clinically meaningful results that demonstrate a clear survival โbenefit for a โคsubset of men with advanced prostate cancer,” stated Dr. โEmma Hall, lead investigator of the TRITON2 trial and a consultant clinical oncologist at โThe Royal Marsden NHS Foundation trust โin London. “Identifying patients with DNA โrepairโ gene alterations is crucial to ensure they โreceive this potentially life-extending therapy.”
Olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, works by blockingโ the repair of damaged DNA in cancer cells, making them more susceptible to chemotherapy. The trial focused on patients with alterations in genes involved โขin DNA โขrepair, โคsuch as BRCA1/2 and other homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes.The study โwas funded by AstraZeneca and Merck, โthe manufacturers of โคolaparib and docetaxel, respectively.Further research is planned to exploreโค the combination’s efficacy in earlierโ stages of the โdiseaseโค and to identify biomarkers that can predict treatment โresponse.
