Overview
Roughly one in six pancreatic cancers harbour defects in DNA damage repair. We exploit those defects therapeutically by combining PARP inhibition with immune checkpoint blockade in biomarker-selected patients.
The POLAR trial
Our investigator-initiated phase 2 POLAR trial demonstrated that maintenance pembrolizumab + olaparib yields a median overall survival of 28 months and a 3-year OS rate of 44% in BRCA/PALB2-mutated metastatic pancreatic cancer.
These results, published in Nature Medicine (2026), establish a chemotherapy-free maintenance strategy for a genetically defined subgroup and link ctDNA dynamics and neoantigen landscape to durable benefit.
Biomarkers
We use HRD status, mutational signatures (COSMIC signature 3, LST, LOH, TAI), and ctDNA response to identify the patients most likely to benefit and to monitor response in real time.