The study changes our understanding of how PARP inhibitors work - and suggests they could be used alongside immunotherapies to boost their effectiveness. Clinical trials have already started to assess this combination.

Some patients have benefited dramatically from a new generation of immunotherapies - but often only between 10 and 20 per cent of patients will respond, with many others' cancers able to hide from the immune system.

Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and the Institut Gustave Roussy, France, led by Professor Chris Lord and Dr Sophie Postal-Vinay, found that PARP inhibitors could unmask some of these cancers that can currently evade detection by immune cells.



The study changes our understanding of how PARP inhibitors work - and suggests they could be used al