The Food and Drug Administration announced their approval on Friday, Dec. 19 of a medication to treat advanced forms of ovarian cancer. The medication is called olaparib but will be marked under the name Lynparza, and will help treat the type of ovarian cancer that is caused by a defective BRCA gene.

A clinical trial has already been done using Lynparza that had great results concerning ovarian tumors. Women with a specific genetic type were used for the study, and they had all previously already received chemotherapy three times. The results of the study found that Lynparza was successful at shrinking or completely doing away with the ovarian tumors in one third of the women with the genetic mutation.

The drug’s maker Astra-Zenica was granted an accelerated approval process to get the drug on the public market even faster than normal.  The FDA also approved a diagnostic test to help determine which women with ovarian cancer could be helped by the drug and which ones would not.

To receive the Lynparza, an ovarian cancer patient must take the test called BRACAnalysis CDx, and test positively for the genetic mutation of the BRCA gene.

The drug works in a very different way than chemotherapy does, and it also providing a lot of insight and hope into what other treatments could be created for other types of cancer.

There is also hope that this drug might be so effective for some people that it could do away with the cancer completely, and for good. The drug is specifically designed to effect the weakness of the cancer, which differs from the way that chemotherapy goes in and attacks.

Lynparza is not without side effects, but for people suffering or who have lives at risk the trade off might be better. Reported side effects of the drug include nausea, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea, joint and muscle pain, fatigue, and a couple different issues with bone marrow.

The drug certainly paints a more promising future for dealing with ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is generally not found in the body until it gets to a very advanced and dangerous state. Every year around 22,000 women are diagnosed with the disease, and as many as 10 to 15 percent of the cases are due to the gene mutations of BRCA and therefore could benefit from this treatment. As many as 10 percent of breast cancer cases have to do with the mutation as well.

The link between cancers and the BRCA gene mutations were discovered years ago and many people are tested for the mutation as a preventative measure. Angelina Jolie was one public case of testing positive for the mutation after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and choosing to opt for a double mastectomy as a preventative measure.

The testing for the mutations has been going on for quite some time now, but until the findings surrounding Lynparza’s success there was no actual treatment to offer those who tested positive for the mutation.

Richard Pazdur, the director of the FDA’s cancer drug division, shared his thoughts on the discovery. He said that Lynparza “…is an example of how a greater understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease can lead to targeted, more personalized treatment.”