Onco Actu du 4 mai 2015

	1.1 Biologie - Gènes
Our milestones: the discovery of the NRAS signalling gene [Cancer Research UK] Although we don’t yet have cancer treatments that can directly switch off any of the RAS family members (for a variety of reasons – they’re particularly tricky targets for designing drugs against), many researchers around the world are working on it, and there are glimmers of hope on the horizon.
	3. Prévention
Diet swap study highlights bowel effects of Western-style diet [NHS Choices] Overall, the results do not contradict current advice that consuming a high-fibre diet can reduce your bowel cancer risk.
	3.1 Tabac
As youth vaping rises, teens cite the allure of tricks [Reuters] Electronic devices produce much more vapor, especially when adjusted to operate at high temperatures, than conventional cigarettes, which helps facilitate the vapor tricks. Teen interest in performing them comes as “cloud competitions,” are increasing in popularity.
	3.5 Prévention - UV
Most Britons unaware of skin cancer signs - survey [BBC News] "This is a reflection of poor sun protection habits. People underestimate the damage that sunburn can do to their skin, and many think that skin reddening is just a harmless part of the tanning process, rather than a sure sign that you have damaged your skin irreparably."
Too many Britons are risking skin cancer by getting sunburned, says study [The Guardian] The research, carried out by the British Association of Dermatologists, also revealed that a “shocking” 72% of people admitted having been sunburned in the previous year.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
People’s views on screening differ. Perhaps their actions should, too. [AcademyHealth Blog] The study showed we don’t talk about this enough. Less than 30% of respondents had heard of overdetection before this study. Patients can only make informed decisions if they are actually informed.
Thank you for sharing [Nature News & Comment] Initiatives to make genetic and medical data publicly available could improve diagnostics — but they lose value if they do not share with other projects.
New test can predict cancer up to 13 years before disease develops [The Telegraph] In the new study, scientists took multiple measurements of telomeres over a 13-year period in 792 persons, 135 of whom were eventually diagnosed with different types of cancer, including prostate, skin, lung and leukaemia.
	4.1 Dép., diag. & prono. - Prostate
Genomic Health Announces Publication of Oncotype DX® Prostate Cancer Test Decision Impact Study in Urology Practice, Supporting Wider Adoption and Reimbursement [Genomic Health] This prospective study involving 158 newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients showed that incorporation of the Genomic Prostate Score (GPS) changed modality and/or intensity of treatment recommendations in 26 percent of patients across multiple urology practice settings.
	4.7 Dép., diag. & prono. - Col de l'utérus
The Great Success And Enduring Dilemma Of Cervical Cancer Screening [NPR] This tension between the benefits of early detection and the pitfalls of over-testing is not new.
Experts clarify best intervals, ages for cervical cancer screening [Reuters] “Guidelines recommend not screening prior to age 21, screening no more frequently than every 3 years and ending screening among low-risk women.”
	5. Traitements
Anchor Trial Launch [National Cancer Institute] A large study found that anal cancer incidence is about 30-fold higher in HIV-infected people compared with people in the general population. The ANCHOR study will assess whether treatment for anal HSIL is effective in reducing the subsequent development of anal cancer in HIV-infected men and women compared with active monitoring via regular exams.
New prostate cancer treatment has promising results in mice [NHS Choices] The potential for a new chemoimmunotherapy treatment approach for cancer is promising. However, the study is still at a very early stage.
Researchers prime immune system’s T cells with foreign antibodies to target cancer cell [Scope Blog] In a paper published today in Nature, Stanford researchers came up with an ingenious hack that used the body’s organ rejection machinery to fight a wide variety of cancers. The work was done in mice, but preliminary investigations show the same mechanism working in human cancers.
Rociletinib shows promising activity against treatment-resistant EGFR-mutated lung cancer [Massachusetts General Hospital] In almost 60 percent of the 92 participants in who received doses at levels determined to be effective, treatment resulted in tumor shrinkage and significant symptom relief, results that Sequist says have lasted up to 9 or 10 months. Since rociletinib only targets mutated forms of EGFR, the unpleasant side effects of broader EGFR inhibition did not occur.
Personalized medicine: Time for one-person trials [Nature News & Comment] Precision medicine requires a different type of clinical trial that focuses on individual, not average, responses to therapy.
New targeted drug promising treatment option in resistant EGFR-positive lung cancers [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] Results of the phase 1 study showed that the drug, AZD9291, caused tumor shrinkage in 61 percent of the 127 patients whose cancer contained the mutation EGFR T790-M – the genetic change that enables the lung cancers to evade the EGFR kinase inhibitors.
Prostate cancer could be 'wiped out' by new treatment [The Telegraph] Advanced prostate cancer could be destroyed by a radical new treatment which combines chemotherapy with a boost to the immune system, research on mice shows.
	5.2 Pharma
Pharmas, Others Bet $33M More on Aileron’s P53 Peptide Drug [Xconomy] That stapled peptide drug, ALRN-6924, is specially configured to travel to the disease site without getting chewed up by enzymes, and simultaneously hit proteins made by two genes—MDM2 and MDMX—that deactivate p53.
Mirna rallies major players for $42M round, hits the gas in immuno-oncology [FierceBiotech] Mirna has earmarked its latest cash for MRX34, a micro-RNA treatment designed to mimic a naturally occurring tumor suppressant that helps the immune system better attack cancerous growth.
Consumer DNA firms get serious about drug development [Nature News & Comment] Companies race to gather large data sets in bid to find treatments based on genetics.
Celgene sales highlight Revlimid dependence ahead of patent ruling [Reuters] Investors may be hesitating as Celgene faces a legal challenge that could cut its exclusive sales rights in Europe by a year or two. The European Patent Office hearing on a Revlimid patent that runs through 2024 is set for May 7.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Accepts Supplemental Biologics License Application for Opdivo (nivolumab) in Patients with Previously Untreated Advanced Melanoma [BMS] CheckMate -066 marked the first time that a PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor demonstrated survival in a Phase III clinical trial.
Blueprint Medicines Bags $147M in Upsized IPO [Xconomy] Blueprint wants its kinase inhibitors to be more finely targeted to genetically defined patient groups. The idea comes from the scientific stars—Nick Lydon, Brian Druker, and Charles Sawyers—who helped discover and develop the landmark chronic myeloid leukemia drug imatinib (Gleevec), one of the first targeted cancer therapies.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
EMA in 2014: A Landmark Year for Approvals, With Eyes on the Future [RAPS] EMA granted orphan designation to 196 products in 2014, a nearly 550% increase from 2013.
Progress in science, medicines, health [EMA] EMA publishes 2014 annual report. In 2014, the Agency recommended 102 new medicines for marketing authorisation, both for human (82) and animal (20) use.
Speedy Drug Approvals Have Become the Rule, Not the Exception [NY Times] The F.D.A. has published a detailed review of its special programs, which it says has helped the agency speed up review of new drugs. The F.D.A. now approves new drugs, on average, more quickly than European and Japanese authorities, with about 60 percent of new drugs approved by the F.D.A. first.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
Amgen To Discuss Details Of The Biologics License Application For Talimogene Laherparepvec For Patients With Metastatic Melanoma [Amgen] Amgen has in place a comprehensive clinical development program for talimogene laherparepvec in metastatic melanoma, which includes combination studies with checkpoint inhibitors in patients with late-stage disease and monotherapy prior to surgery (neoadjuvant) in patients with resectable disease.
FDA panel gives a thumbs up to Amgen's T-Vec for melanoma [FierceBiotech] There was considerable sentiment in favor of restricting the drug to certain patient groups, with some of the panelists expressing their frustration that they couldn't register a vote regarding the low likelihood that the drug would work for visceral (internal) tumors or later-stage patients.
FDA panel recommends approval for Amgen's skin cancer immunotherapy [Reuters] The panel voted 22-1 supporting an approval for the therapy, talimogene laherparepvec or "T-Vec", an engineered virus that kills cancer cells when injected into tumors and also primes the immune system to attack the disease.
	5.5 ASCO
ASCO Highlights Capabilities to Electronically Share Clinical Information and Provide Coordinated Cancer Care at 2015 Annual Meeting [ASCO] “This demonstration will show the benefits of these types of standards in documenting a typical cancer patient’s treatment journey and will illustrate how effectively sharing electronic data supports patient engagement, coordination of care, and decision making.”
Cabozantinib and Cobimetinib to Be Featured in Fourteen Presentations at 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting [Exelixis] Cabozantinib will be the subject of eight presentations primarily from studies conducted under the company’s Investigator-Sponsored Trial program and collaboration with the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (NCI-CTEP), as well as from one Exelixis-sponsored trial.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Looking at cancer as a chronic illness [Scope Blog] We need to debunk the myth that palliative care means giving up or accepting a shorter life, she said – rather, it focuses on quality of life and what’s important to patients.
Advice on being active should be routine in bowel cancer care [Cancer Research UK] Worryingly – despite all the evidence of its benefit – we found that the majority of bowel cancer patients didn’t remember being given any information about being active.
	6.1 Observation
Worse survival after lung cancer surgery for residents of poor neighborhoods [Reuters] Researchers reviewed records for more than 200,000 patients who had lung cancer surgery from 2003 to 2011. They found that while factors such as age, gender and other medical conditions influenced survival, so did non-clinical variables like the neighborhoods where patients lived, and the type of hospital where they were treated.
	6.10 Politiques
Regulatory Explainer: The (Updated) 21st Century Cures Act [RAPS] The initiative is intended to speed up the pace at which FDA approves new medicines for conditions currently lacking cures, as well as a lengthy list of other proposals.
FDA could approve drugs for new uses on less data: draft law [Reuters] Currently a company with a drug approved for lung cancer must conduct additional studies if it wants to market it for breast cancer. A bill drafted by the House Energy & Commerce Committee's health panel would eliminate the need for randomized, controlled clinical trials, the gold standard for assessing whether a product is safe and effective.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
How Accurate Is US Patient Outcome Health Data? [Science 2.0] "With a few notable exceptions, most registries are underdeveloped, underfunded and often are not based on sound scientific methodology."
Can Apple And IBM Change Health Care? Five Big Questions [Forbes] I also saw something I didn’t like at the press conference: a tendency to talk a lot about how great the gadgets and apps they were developing are without much data about whether or not they actually improve health.
	6.9 Controverses
Statistics: P values are just the tip of the iceberg [Nature News & Comment] Ridding science of shoddy statistics will require scrutiny of every step, not merely the last one.