Dr Kelly Brooks

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Investigating poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibitors (PARP) for the treatment of splicing factor 3b subunit 1 (SF3B1) mutant melanoma 

PARP inhibitors are drugs that disrupt cancers cells ability to repair their DNA and are currently used to kill certain cancers. Eye melanomas are a very deadly form of melanoma lacking effective treatments. Some of these melanomas have defects in SF3B1 as do some breast, pancreatic and blood cancers. This project will confirm early evidence suggesting SF3B1 defects make cancer cells sensitive to PARP inhibitors. This would provide a rapid and safe treatment for these patients over a number of cancer types.