Onco Actu du 3 juin 2015

	1. Biologie
Rebooting the Human Genome [MIT Technology Review] In a graph genome, the objective will be to find a path through the genetic letters that exactly matches yours. If every possible path is represented—which is the whole idea—it will make the interpretations of genomes faster, less expensive, and more accurate.
	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
Why I despise Mike Adams: Blaming Beau Biden’s cancer on chemotherapy and glyphosate [Respectful Insolence] Of course, even if glyphosate were carcinogenic (which it appears not to be, at least not at a clinically significant level), there would be no way of knowing that it caused Beau Biden’s brain cancer. Even Mike Adams ends up having to equivocate and admit that. Unfortunately, he does so in the context of a particularly vicious attack on the grieving Joe Biden.
	3.1 Tabac
U.S. tobacco companies drop lawsuit vs FDA over labeling [Reuters] The three largest U.S. tobacco companies on Tuesday dropped their lawsuit accusing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of exceeding its authority by closely monitoring the content of their product labels after the agency said it would reconsider its rules.
	5. Traitements
Mother fights brain cancer with electric fields [Reuters] A backpack feeds to an array of electrodes attached to Marek's head. Those electrodes create an electric field inside her brain which stops cell division in cancer cells.
	5.2.2 Pharma - Fusions & Acquisitions
Juno Therapeutics Adds Antibody Engineering Capabilities Through Acquisition of X-BODY [Juno] Transaction Accelerates Capabilities to Create Novel Fully Human CAR T and TCR Constructs.
AstraZeneca’s Soriot Open to Buying Immune-Therapy Company [Bloomberg] “If at some point we conclude we need to make an acquisition, we certainly would consider it, there’s no question about it,” Soriot said in an interview, in response to a question about whether AstraZeneca would consider buying a CAR T asset such as Juno Therapeutics Inc.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
FDA panel to discuss Lilly's lung cancer drug approval [Reuters] The FDA said the panel would review data that showed improved overall survival rate in lung cancer patients treated with a combination of Lilly's experimental drug, necitumumab, and chemotherapy agents gemcitabine and cisplatin.
	5.5.1 ASCO (général)
Baby, can you drive my CAR-T? Great potential and excitement, but questions remain [The OBR Blog] The two hurdles noted most often by the speakers were the persistence of the engineered T-cells and reducing the CRS and central nervous system toxicities.
ASCO Roundup: Checkpoints, Pushback Against Prices, CAR-T & More [Xconomy] This year, not only did the meeting feature scientific developments for these new types of cancer fighters that rev up patients’ immune systems, but it also included a warning that the price of these drugs, especially if used in combination, could drive up healthcare costs and leave some patients out in the cold.
The Survivors And Advocates Highlight That Personalized Medicine Is About All Of Us [Dr Len] But ultimately-as the advocates and patients made very clear-it is the engaged patient that is a critical part of this evolving landscape of cancer care.
ASCO Wrapup: Immunotherapy Shines, Hope For Brain Tumors, & The Great Cancer Drug Price Debate [Forbes] Bristol-Myers Squibb, as it has been the past couple years, was at the center of attention with its antibody that unleashes the immune system to fight tumors by binding with a molecular target called PD-1.
	5.5.1.1 ASCO (général) - Industriels
With a crucial CAR-T trial looming for Cellectis, a confident André Choulika is laying it all on the line [FierceBiotech] "Cellectis is the first company doing CAR-T," the CEO told FierceBiotech during an interview at ASCO. "We are the first gene editing company in the world," dating back to 1999. "There was no gene editing before us; we are the leaders."
	5.5.1.2 ASCO (général) - Académiques
Illuminating insights and innovative ideas at the world’s largest cancer conference [The Institute of Cancer Research] Researchers from the ICR were a great fit to discuss these themes – telling of their work shining a light on the underlying biology of cancer and describing how we are developing new, pioneering therapies. We wanted to share some of our highlights with you.
	5.5.10 ASCO (hémato)
Crowd surfing: Competition in myeloma continues to rage on [The OBR Blog] Given the increasingly crowded relapsed/refractory setting, companies that plan to bring more agents to multiple myeloma will need to go head-to-head against or combine with RevDex, VelDex, KypDex or the various established and emerging triplet regimens.
Gaga over Gazyva? GADOLIN shows clinical benefit in Rituxan-refractory indolent NHL [The OBR Blog] Making landfall in the relapsed setting, Roche’s goal to replace Rituxan appears to be on track.
Adding Investigational Agent Elotuzumab to Standard Treatment for Multiple Myeloma Significantly Reduced the Risk of Disease Progression, According to New Phase III Data from ELOQUENT-2 Trial Published in New England Journal of Medicine [BMS] The study met its co-primary endpoints demonstrating superior progression-free survival (PFS) and overall response rate (ORR).
	5.5.12 ASCO (médico-éco)
Why I won’t be rushing to tell my cancer patients there’s a cure [The Guardian] Every year, news of another miracle drug saturates the global media followed by patients, medics and advocacy groups agitating for funding. The oncologist in me loves the feel-good stories presented in neat slides. But as a global citizen, I struggle with the implications of mind-bogglingly expensive drugs that are at best associated with modest benefits in the vast majority of patients.
	5.5.13 ASCO (divers)
NCI Gets Personal [The Scientist] “This is the largest and most rigorous precision oncology trial that has ever been attempted,” James Doroshow, deputy director of the NCI, said at the ASCO meeting.
Statins can halve patients' risk of dying from cancer [The Telegraph] The 15 year study of 146,000 women, aged 50 to 79, found overall cancer mortality fell by 20 per cent among those taking the daily pills.
	5.5.2 ASCO (sein)
Study finds misperceptions about impact of double mastectomy [University of Michigan] Majority of breast cancer patients did not know the aggressive procedure does not improve survival.
	5.5.4 ASCO (immunothérapies)
Immunotherapy continues to grow; the question may soon become where this class of agents won’t have a strong impact [The OBR Blog] Although mutational load is unlikely to be the only factor that influences likelihood of response to checkpoint blockade, new data from ASCO 2015 suggest it certainly plays a role and may need to be considered for future development plans and eventually patient selection across a number of solid tumor types.
Tumor tests for immuno-oncology drugs need some work, cancer experts say [FiercePharma] "We shouldn't withhold immunotherapy from patients based on a biomarker yet," said Dr. Roy Herbst, chief of medical oncology at Yale Cancer Center, about Opdivo. "We don't even know if PD-L1 is the right biomarker."
	5.5.9 ASCO (autres organes)
Trabectedin Improves Disease Control in Patients with Advanced Soft Tissue Sarcoma [Johnson & Johnson] In this randomized, active-controlled Phase 3 study in patients with advanced LPS or LMS, trabectedin significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 45% compared with those who received dacarbazine.
	6.1 Observation
U.S. melanoma rate is now double what it was 30 years ago [LA Times] If Americans take precautions to protect their skin, they could prevent 230,000 melanoma cases over 10 years.
	6.3 Associations
Rochelle Shoretz, Founder of Cancer Support Group, Dies at 42 [NY Times] Sharsheret has fielded tens of thousands of inquiries from women who have breast cancer or who are at greater genetic risk of getting breast or ovarian cancer, and it connects them with health professionals, peer support groups and other resources.
	6.6 Publications
NEJM reignites conflict-of-interest debate with reader poll [HealthNewsReview] More than 30 readers – most of whom identified themselves as physicians – commented on the poll and used the space afforded to comment on the Rosenbaum series as well – and it seems many still aren’t buying what NEJM is selling.
	6.8 Communication
Oncology hashtag project aims to improve accuracy of online communication about cancer [Scope Blog] Katz’s “cancer tag oncology” is based on research begun in 2013, which found that a wide variety of people did use the Twitter hashtags. Katz also founded Rad Nation, an online community of radiation oncologists.