Onco Actu du 15 juillet 2015

	1. Biologie
Researchers identify protein that spreads cancer [NHS Choices] While this research seems to show promise, the findings on the DNA-PKcs inhibitors were in mice and therefore may not be applicable to humans. Headlines reporting this as a cancer "breakthrough" should be taken with caution.
Can ‘jumping genes’ cause cancer chaos? [Cancer Research UK] Finding evidence of widespread jumping genes doesn’t prove that they’re definitely involved in tumour growth, although it certainly looks very suspicious, and there are a lot of questions still to be answered.
New role for prostate cancer protein could lead to better diagnosis and treatment [Cancer Research UK] The protein DNA-PK – first shown to repair DNA damage in the 1990s by UK scientists (link is external) – has now been shown to be involved in regulating the activity of genes involved in cancer spread.
	2. Etiologie
Free time spent sitting linked to higher risk of some cancers in women [ACS] For reasons that are as yet unclear, the study found no such association for men.
	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
Monsanto says panel to review WHO finding on cancer link to herbicide [Reuters] "It has created a lot of confusion," Begemann said of the IARC cancer link finding. "This panel is going to review the data thoroughly, and they are going to make their findings available to everyone for review."
	3.1 Tabac
Keeping it local – A CLeaR commitment to tobacco control [Cancer Research UK] Developed by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), supported by Cancer Research UK, and now managed by Public Health England (PHE) the CLeaR process aims to support local tobacco control advocates by allowing local authorities to scrutinise and report on each other’s tobacco control policies and activities.
California’s anti-vaping bill goes up in smoke [Nature News & Comment] Demise of legislation highlights rise of e-cigarette lobbying.
Court directs New Delhi to implement bigger smoking warnings [Reuters] The tobacco industry has labelled the new rules as "drastic" and "impractical".
	3.3 Prévention - Vaccins
Early Push To Require The HPV Vaccine May Have Backfired [NPR] Why such dismal acceptance rates for HPV? Part of the problem is that the original testing on the vaccine was done only on girls, and its 2006 approval was for girls only; approval for boys didn't come until 2009, and it wasn't added to the list of recommended vaccines for boys until 2011.
EMA to further clarify safety profile of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines [EMA] The current review will look at available data with a focus on rare reports of two conditions: complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS, a chronic pain condition affecting the limbs) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS, a condition where the heart rate increases abnormally after sitting or standing up, causing symptoms such as dizziness and fainting, as well as headache, chest pain and weakness).
Only three U.S. states mandate recommended HPV vaccine [Reuters] That lags well behind where similar vaccines, like hepatitis B and varicella, were at the same point in their development, the authors write in a letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
	4.1 Dép., diag. & prono. - Prostate
Is it time to digitally re-examine the PSA test? [HealthNewsReview] Let’s not forget the big elephant in the room. Many who recommend PSA testing tend to generally earn their living removing or radiating prostates.
	4.10 Dép., diag. & prono. - FDA, EMA, NICE,...
QIAGEN companion diagnostic wins FDA approval for use with IRESSA [Quiagen] therascreen® EGFR RGQ PCR Kit to guide treatment with AstraZeneca’s lung cancer drug in U.S.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Liquid biopsy identifies mutations in colorectal cancer that go undetected in tissue biopsy [Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology] According to the study, liquid biopsy (BEAMing technology) could become an essential tool for analyzing tumor genotypes in real time, and identifying significant mutations that occur during the course of disease and are not detected by tissue biopsy.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
When a Fetus’s Test Finds a Mother’s Cancer [MIT Technology Review] “We need to do a better job up front to communicate with patients that we might find out something about their own health as well,” says Diana Bianchi of Tufts Medical Center, the first author of the paper, who is on an advisory panel for Illumina.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Publishes Oncotype DX® DCIS Score™ Study [Genomic Health] Largest Genomic Study in DCIS Reconfirms Oncotype DX as Independent Predictor of Local Recurrence, Representing Breakthrough in Personalizing Treatment of Stage 0 Breast Cancer.
The uncertainty surrounding mammography continues [Science-Based Medicine] Unfortunately, there remains a large contingent of radiologists who, like Dr. Kopans, believes that overdiagnosis either does not exist or is such a small problem as not to be worth the consideration it is currently receiving. Fortunately, that appears to be changing.
	5. Traitements
New approach to treating B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia shows promise in preclinical studies [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] In the new study, Weinstock and his colleagues tested a type II JAK2 inhibitor, which uses a different strategy against the errant protein. Made by Novartis, the inhibitor, called CHZ868, binds JAK2 into a tightly clenched position that prevents it from functioning.
New drug combo could make cancer more sensitive to chemo [Cancer Research UK] “In cases where patients don’t benefit from taxane-based chemotherapy, doctors could add drugs that target Bcl-xL to overcome cancer’s defences. It’s still early days for this research but, if the results are confirmed in clinical trials, it has the potential to improve treatment for thousands of cancer patients.”
'Softener' may help kill cancers [BBC News] "These new inhibitors would essentially soften-up the cancer cells so when they are treated they are more likely to die."
Glasses that make cancer glow [Reuters] The system works by first injecting the patient with a cancer-targeting dye that attaches to abnormal cells. Then a near infrared light is beamed on the target area which allows a surgeon wearing specialized glasses to see cancer cells glowing.
	5.2 Pharma
After Celgene Deal, Juno Revs Armored CAR For Ovarian Cancer Trial [Xconomy] Brentjens tells Xconomy that in August or September he will begin treating ovarian cancer patients with armored CAR-T cells, engineered to send out a chemical signal that recruits the patients’ non-engineered T cells to come join the attack.
Takeda Submits New Drug Application for Ixazomib for Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma [Takeda] The NDA submission was based on the pivotal Phase 3 trial TOURMALINE-MM1, an international, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial of 722 patients designed to evaluate the superiority of ixazomib plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone over placebo plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone in adult patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.
In a pivotal study, Roche’s investigational immunotherapy atezolizumab shrank tumours in people with a specific type of bladder cancer [Roche] IMvigor 210 is an open-label, multicenter, single-arm Phase II study that evaluated the safety and efficacy of atezolizumab in people with locally advanced or metastatic UBC, regardless of PD-L1 expression.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
GSK and the Francis Crick Institute join forces in collaboration to forge new scientific discoveries [GSK] A number of projects within this collaboration exploring diseases including HIV, malaria and cancer are expected to start in 2015.
	5.2.2 Pharma - Fusions & Acquisitions
Celgene to buy Receptos for $7.2 billion; gains promising drug [Reuters] Celgene has been on something of a deal spree in recent months. The Receptos move comes just two weeks after Celgene said it would invest $1 billion in Juno Therapeutics to gain access to its cancer immunotherapy portfolio in a deal that would allow Celgene to buy up to 30 percent of Juno over the next decade.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
IMBRUVICA® (ibrutinib) Now Approved to Treat Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia in Europe [AbbVie] The EC approval was based on data from a Phase II multi-center study, which evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of IMBRUVICA 420 mg once daily in 63 patients with WM who had received a median of two prior therapies (range 1-9).
FDA approves targeted therapy for first-line treatment of patients with a type of metastatic lung cancer [FDA] Companion test also approved to identify appropriate patients.
AstraZeneca lung cancer drug approved as first-line treatment [Reuters] The FDA said on Tuesday the approval of AstraZeneca Plc's drug, Iressa, was based on results from a trial of 106 patients with previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Health Insurer Mergers Will Pressure Pharma Over High-Cost Drugs [Wall Street Journal] Using this approach, Moody’s writes that “the same drug could get reimbursed differently for different tumor types if the clinical data shows different levels of effectiveness.”
	5.5 ASCO
GI Cancers: Immediate Impact of 2015 ASCO Presentations on Clinical Practice [The OBR Blog] This research is based on separate surveys in non-Colorectal Gastrointestinal cancer and Colorectal cancer.
ASCO Updates Guideline for Use of White Blood Cell Growth Factors [ASCO] To develop this clinical practice guideline update, an ASCO Expert Panel conducted a formal systematic review of relevant medical literature published from October 2005 through September 2014.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
On research review boards, conflict-of-interest reporting improves [Reuters] About a third of IRB members had some kind of industry relationship in 2005 and 2014, but the percentage who felt another member did not properly disclose their financial relationships in the past year decreased from 10.8 percent to 6.7 percent, the researchers reported in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Frederic Amant: building the evidence base for saving mother and child [Cancer World] Most oncologists work in cancer because of the potential to save lives. Rare is the doctor who gets the chance to save two lives at the same time, as with cancer in pregnancy.
Cancer survivors may face barriers to adoption [Reuters] Researchers who contacted adoption agencies found that while all prospective parents were asked to provide a medical history, cancer survivors might also be required to submit letters from physicians or show they were disease free for at least five years.
The Double Mastectomy Rebellion [Wall Street Journal] Dr. Hurley believes women who go ahead with the surgery are often regarded as brave and in control. “At one point, empowerment was keeping your breasts, and now it is removing them.”
Survivors of teenage cancer struggle with jobs, emotions later in life [Reuters] Survivors of teenage cancer also faced higher rates of depression and anxiety, as well as issues with memory and task efficiency, compared to their siblings who did not have cancer.
St. Jude to receive $12 million in grants from NIH Funding will enable St. Jude scientists to find new ways of improving therapy for children with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases.
	6.1 Observation
Breast Cancer Survivors Gain More Weight Than Cancer-free Women [AACR] The researchers found that survivors who were diagnosed with breast cancer within five years before T1 had gained an average of 3.81 pounds more than cancer-free women.
	6.10 Politiques
Congressional Lawmakers Introduce a Right to Try Bill for Desperate Patients [Wall Street Journal] “This bill is dead on arrival,” says Arthur Caplan, who heads the NYU School of Medicine’s division of medical ethics. “It emasculates the authority of the FDA to control the introduction of new drugs, biologics, vaccines and devices and as such will not gain Congressional approval."
The Right to Try Act of 2015 –A Serious Challenge to FDA Control of Expanded Access? [FDA Law Blog] The bill seeks to expand the access of terminally ill patients to experimental drugs in a novel way, by prohibiting the federal government, including FDA and DEA, from taking action to stop such access.
Is genetic testing at risk from EU laws? [Wellcome Trust Blog] The suggested amendment proposes that genetic tests can only be conducted by a qualified medical professional, and only after mandatory genetic counselling has been given and full consent provided. While this is appropriate for some types of tests, where the results could have profound implications for the patient and their family, to apply it to genetic tests where consent may be implicit would risk restricting the availability of tests for other conditions.
21st Century Cures bill sails through House [Science] The updated version of the bill will now head to the Senate, which has yet to release its own biomedical innovation bill.
House Passes Product of Unusual Bipartisan Partnership on Health Care [NY Times] “What we have here is a Trojan horse,” said Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor at Harvard Medical School, who has written about the law. “The elevator pitch is very appealing: ‘This is about getting crucial drugs to the American public sooner.’ But it is a vehicle for some regulatory changes that are really very worrisome.”
	6.8 Communication
Half of older women unclear on breast cancer symptoms [The Guardian] “You are never too old to get breast cancer. It is not always a lump and women should look out for any changes in the shape of the breast, a change to a nipple or to the skin."
	6.9 Controverses
Special Report - MD Anderson Faculty White Paper To UT Chancellor Calls for Executive Pay Freeze, Elimination of “Two-Class System” [The Cancer Letter] The white paper—authored by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate and distributed confidentially to the faculty July 10—is arguably the most comprehensive representation of the faculty’s cumulative dissatisfaction with DePinho and his administration’s performance and handling of personnel matters over the past three years.