Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and PARP inhibitors

PARP-1 protects cells from endogenous and therapeutically inflicted DNA damage. PARP inhibitors have been under development since 1980 and first entered clinical trial in 2003. They are an exciting new class of drugs that have the potential to increase the efficacy of anticancer DNA damaging agents and to selectively target cells that have defects in other DNA repair pathways. There are now nine PARP inhibitors undergoing clinical evaluation.