Dr Vincent Chung speaks to ecancer about a phase II trial (S2001) evaluating the addition of pembrolizumab to olaparib as maintenance therapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer harbouring germline BRCA1/2 mutations.

While the combination showed encouraging signs of activity, including higher objective response and disease control rates compared with olaparib alone, it did not meet its primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival.

Dr Chung says that the study was stopped early for futility following interim analysis.

He adds that treatment was generally well tolerated, with no grade 4–5 treatment-related adverse events and manageable toxicity across both arms.

Immune-related side effects observed with the combination included endocrine disorders such as thyroid dysfunction and adrenal insufficiency.

These findings highlight both the potential and limitations of combining PARP inhibition with immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer, underscoring the need for further research to better identify patients most likely to benefit.