Onco Actu du 10 juillet 2015

	1. Biologie
‘Jumping genes’ may drive oesophageal cancer [Cancer Research UK] The scientists, from the University of Cambridge, used cutting-edge technology that can read DNA to study the genes of 43 oesophageal tumour and blood samples to discover how much these mobile genetic sequences travel.
	2.7 Etiologie - Obésité
Overweight teenagers in denial about obesity at risk of up to 10 different types of cancer [The Telegraph] Cancer experts warn that teens carrying excess weight are putting themselves at risk of up to 10 different types of cancer, including those affecting the breast and bowel.
	3. Prévention
Op-Ed Contributor: Why Is the Federal Government Afraid of Fat? [NY Times] The limit on total fat is an outdated concept, an obstacle to sensible change that promotes harmful low-fat foods, undermines efforts to limit refined grains and added sugars, and discourages the food industry from developing products higher in healthy fats. Fortunately, the people behind the Dietary Guidelines understand that. Will the government, policy makers and the food industry take notice this time?
	3.1 Tabac
Exclusive: With feds slow to act, states target e-cigarette sales to minors [Reuters] State attorneys general played a pivotal role during the 1990s in battling tobacco companies over conventional cigarettes.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
Want Answers? Look to the Non-Coding Region of the Genome, Says Cancer Researcher, Tim Triche [Mendelspod] Using the Affymetrix Exon array that was developed as a result of the experiment, Tim has continually demonstrated that there are indeed useful diagnostic and prognostic cancer biomarkers to be found in the non-coding RNA.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Study Advances Potential of Tumor Genome Sequencing and DNA-Based Blood Tests in Precision Treatment and Detection of Pancreatic Cancer [Johns Hopkins] In a genome-sequencing study of pancreatic cancers and blood in 101 patients, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists say they found at least one-third of the patients’ tumors have genetic mutations that may someday help guide precision therapy of their disease.
Exciting developments in Pancreatic Cancer [CoreGenomics] These methods open the possibility of detecting PaCa in asymptomatic patients by focusing on a few specific PaCa mutation.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Why Women Shouldn't Cower To Concerns About Overdiagnosis Of Breast Cancer [Forbes] I’ll say up-front, one lesson from this unusual paper is how different people including academics in non-medical fields, physicians and patients, and journalists, advocates like me, can look at the same set of facts and see, draw, frame or graph distinct conclusions, depending on what they expect or want to find or prove and maybe learn or tell others.
	5. Traitements
Less intensive chemo avoids irreversible side effects in children’s cancer [Cancer Research UK] The results showed that 96.5 per cent of children whose treatment included doxorubicin survived for five years or more, compared with 95.8 per cent of children who didn’t receive the drug.
Colourful chemotherapy [The Economist] Optical switching may abolish the side effects of cancer drugs.
	5.2 Pharma
Soon-Shiong spawns yet another spinout in a tangled web of cancer R&D [FierceBiotech] Each deal has been buoyed along by ample bluster from Soon-Shiong--the new one is "focused on transforming cancer therapy as we know it today," for instance--but not a lot of clinical data, and keeping tabs on which offshoot is toiling in which field of oncology has becoming increasingly difficult.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Epizyme Extends Celgene Cancer Deal for $10M Upfront [Xconomy] Celgene has agreed to pay Epizyme $10 million upfront and as much as $610 million in milestones for the option to license three drug targets Epizyme is developing, which use its method of inhibiting enzymes called histone methyltransferases, or HMTs.
Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology announce partnership with Monopar Therapeutics to develop new oncology compound [Cancer Research UK] HuATN-658 is an antibody that targets the cell surface protein uPAR, which is found in high levels in some of the most deadly cancers.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
Eli Lilly gains FDA advisers' support for a questionable lung cancer drug [FierceBiotech] Lilly was forced to halt one study for necitumumab due to an alarming rise of deaths due to blood clots and came up with only a 1.6-month overall survival benefit in the final, pivotal study.
Lilly Statement on FDA Advisory Committee Review of Necitumumab [Lilly] "We believe necitumumab with gemcitabine and cisplatin represents a meaningful advance in the search for a new first-line treatment option and look forward to working closely with the FDA as they continue their review."
FDA panel: Lilly cancer drug has positive risk/benefit profile [Reuters] The panel did not officially vote but an informal poll taken by the FDA indicated most members believe the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. The FDA is not obliged to follow the advice of its advisers but generally does so.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Payers think they can squeeze prices on cancer immunotherapies? Not so fast, analyst says [FiercePharma] "Despite the rhetoric, we see nothing tangibly on the horizon that foretells a sudden or material change to this long-standing system, as it relates to oncology drugs."
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Teens Dying Of Cancer Face Intensive Treatments In The Final Days [NPR] The study, published in JAMA Oncology on Thursday, is the first of its kind to study end-of-life care for people ages 15 through 39.
Aggressive Cancer Treatment Near End of Life Persists Despite Rise in Advance Planning Efforts [Johns Hopkins] Nearly 40 percent of survey respondents said their loved ones did not discuss end-of-life care preferences with them.
	6.10 Politiques
ACT NOW: Encourage Your Representative to Vote for 21st Century Cures Legislation [ASCO] ASCO has weighed in heavily throughout the development of this legislation and will continue to work closely with lawmakers in the House and the Senate on its progress.
This bill promises to speed up drug approvals so much that it’s making people uncomfortable [The Washington Post] Critics are worried that the law will relax America’s standards for evaluating new drugs and devices, which are approved based on careful review of evidence -- including rigorously designed clinical trials.
	6.11 Patients
Run for your life: why cancer treatments won't stop me [The Guardian] In difficult times, there are always golden moments and this is one of mine. My oncologist is a marathon runner. In the same conversation about the side-effects of chemotherapy, he sang the praises of German marathons because of their efficiency.
	6.6 Publications
The Metric Tide: Rethinking Research on Research [Wellcome Trust Blog] The call for more ‘science of science’ is therefore exciting and timely – how might we make funding science more scientific? The question presents an opportunity for sector-wide engagement and collaboration to bring insight and efficiencies to how we fund research, what we should value in different contexts, and what does and doesn’t work.
There are powerful currents whipping up the metric tide. The HEFCE metrics report [DC's Improbable Science] The only bit of the report that I’m not entirely happy about is the recommendation to spend more money investigating the metrics that the report has just debunked. It seems to me that there will never be a way of measuring the quality of work without reading it.
The metric tide: an agenda for responsible indicators in research [The Guardian] Across research, the metric tide is rising. An independent report published today argues that we have the opportunity to influence how it washes through higher education and research.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
The problem with guidelines: epidemiological risks and decisions about individual patients [The Incidental Economist] Data-driven progress in predictive analytics will reduce — but never eliminate — the challenge of applying an epidemiological risk to an individual patient.
	6.7.1 Bioinformatique
World-leading Big Data researchers call for support for more accessible and more effective storage of data in the cloud to facilitate genomics research [Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard] Today in the journal Nature prominent researchers from Canada, Europe and the U.S. have made a powerful call to major funding agencies, asking them to commit to establishing a global genomic data commons in the cloud that could be easily accessed by authorized researchers worldwide.
	6.7.3 DMP
The Many Challenges But Promise of Big Data [Clinical Oncology News] Flatiron has several software products for oncology practices, including OncoEMR, a cloud-based oncology-specific EHR for cancer clinics, and OncoAnalytics, an EHR-agnostic analytics portal that administrators and physicians can use to explore and analyze their practice data.