niraparib + nivolumab

Niraparib + nivolumab is an investigational combination therapy consisting of two distinct drugs used primarily in oncology clinical trials. Niraparib is a small molecule inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), specifically PARP1 and PARP2, which are enzymes involved in DNA repair. By inhibiting these enzymes, niraparib induces synthetic lethality in tumor cells with homologous recombination deficiency, such as those with BRCA1/2 mutations[6][3][2]. Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets the programmed cell death protein 1 receptor (PD-1) on T cells, blocking its interaction with PD-L1 and PD-L2 to enhance anti-tumor immune responses[8]. The combination has been studied as maintenance therapy for patients with platinum-sensitive advanced cancers, including pancreatic cancer, aiming to improve progression-free survival by leveraging both direct tumor cell cytotoxicity (niraparib) and immune checkpoint inhibition (nivolumab)[4][5][1].