William K. Oh, MD, presented “Identifying Mutations and Optimizing Use of PARP Inhibitors” during the 26th Annual Southwest Prostate Cancer Symposium conference on April 15, 2023, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
How to cite: Oh, William K. “Identifying Mutations and Optimizing Use of PARP Inhibitors.” April 15, 2023. Accessed Oct 2025. https://grandroundsinurology.com/identifying-mutations-and-optimizing-use-of-parp-inhibitors/
Identifying Mutations and Optimizing Use of PARP Inhibitors – Summary
William K. Oh, MD, highlights the growing significance of precision medicine and the role of genetic profiling in tailoring therapeutic strategies. Dr. Oh begins by outlining the importance of identifying DNA repair gene mutations, particularly BRCA1 and BRCA2, in prostate cancer patients. These mutations, which impair the cell’s ability to repair DNA damage, render the cancer more susceptible to treatments targeting DNA repair mechanisms, such as PARP inhibitors.
Dr. Oh delves into the mechanisms of PARP inhibitors, which function by inhibiting the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) enzyme involved in DNA repair. By blocking this pathway, PARP inhibitors induce synthetic lethality in cancer cells harboring defective DNA repair genes, leading to cell death.
Dr. Oh discusses the importance of patient selection based on genetic profiling and the potential for combining PARP inhibitors with other therapies, such as androgen receptor signaling inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors, to enhance their efficacy. He reviews ongoing clinical trials exploring these combination strategies and their preliminary results.
About the 26th Annual Southwest Prostate Cancer Symposium:
This conference educated attendees about advances in the management of localized and advanced prostate cancer, with a focus on imaging, technology, and training in the related devices. It included a scientific session, as well as live demonstrations of surgical techniques. You can learn more about the conference here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William K. Oh, MD, is the Director of Precision Medicine at the Yale Cancer Center, and aProfessor of Medicine for the Division of Medical Oncology at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Oh also serves as Medical Director for the Service Line at Smilow Cancer Hospital within the Greenwich Hospital.Dr. Oh’s specialties include the management of genitourinary malignancies, including prostate, renal, bladder, and testicular cancers.Dr. Oh’s research interests include novel biomarkers and therapeutics in advanced prostate cancer.
Dr. Oh received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in New York, New York. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He then completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to joining Mount Sinai in 2009, Dr. Oh served as Clinical Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology and directed the Gelb Center for Translational Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was also the founding Chair of the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee for Phase I/II Trials at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
In addition to serving as the Principal Investigator of multiple clinical trials in prostate cancer, Dr. Oh has developed large clinical databases and specimen repositories for genitourinary cancers at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and at Mount Sinai, which have enrolled more than 10,000 patients with prostate, renal, and bladder cancers.Dr. Oh has authored more than 350 articles, reviews, and book chapters on topics relating to prostate, renal, bladder, and testicular cancers. He has edited three books on prostate cancer. He has served in key invited roles for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Cancer Society, and the American Urological Association, including the Guidelines Committee for Advanced Prostate Cancer. In addition to reviewing for top journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Cancer, Dr. Oh co-edits “Testicular Cancer” for Up to Date and is Associate Editor of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. He is a member of the prestigious American Society for Clinical Investigation and has been repeatedly selected as a Top Doctor in New York magazine, Castle Connolly, Best Doctors, and Super Doctors over the past decade.
