In this trial, olaparib will be delivered alone for 14 days with the hypothesis that priming of the apoptotic machinery will be required prior to introduction of the senolytic agent (navitoclax). To date navitoclax and olaparib have not been combined in the clinic. The Phase I study will therefore be conducted to define the recommended Phase II dose (RP2D). A plan for a future Phase II study will depend on the results obtained during this Phase I trial. Based on the potential for overlapping toxicity (particularly hematologic toxicity) an interrupted dosing schedule will be used for the navitoclax. Based on preclinical studies it is believed that intermittent delivery of the senolytic agent is in line with the proposed mechanism of action. Subsequently the dose of navitoclax will be escalated with a fixed dose of olaparib in 28-day cycles.
The purpose of this Phase I study is to determine if the PARP inhibitor olaparib can be safely combined with navitoclax, an inhibitor of Bcl-2/Bcl-XL, in women with TNBC who have somatic or germline mutations in breast cancer gene one (BRCA1) and breast cancer gene two (BRCA2) BRCA1/2 or PALB2 and in women with recurrent HGSC who have progressed greater than 6 months since their last platinum containing chemotherapy. The trial is designed as an open- label multi-center Phase I interventional and translational study. It will identify the dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs), maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and RP2D of olaparib combined with navitoclax for study in Phase II. There is a plan for a follow on Phase II study depending on the results obtained during this Phase I trial.The rationale for this study is that for a subset of patients, olaparib, will increase tumor cell survival dependence on inhibition of cell death by Bcl 2/Bcl- XL. Thus, navitoclax will augment apoptosis induced by PARP inhibition with olaparib.