Onco Actu du 18 septembre 2015

	1. Biologie
Cancer genes control the way cells get fat [The Institute of Cancer Research] The tumour suppressor gene TP53 was found to have a role in regulating lipid production, meaning it is critical in preventing ‘structural’, as well as genetic, errors in new cells – stalling the cell cycle to ensure there are enough lipid building blocks to construct a new cell.
IRB Barcelona identifies the gene responsible for metastasis of breast cancer to the bone [IRB Barcelona] A study published today in the Journal of National Cancer Institute (JNCI) by ICREA researcher Roger Gomis may be key to the early detection of patients at risk of developing metastasis to the bone.
	2. Etiologie
Large analysis supports possible link between obesity and rare brain tumour [Cancer Research UK] The University of Regensburg team analysed all available research on BMI, physical activity and two forms of brain tumour: meningioma and glioma. Twelve studies on BMI and six on physical activity were analysed, involving 2,982 meningioma cases and 3,057 glioma cases.
	2.10 Etiologie - Alcool
Drinking alcohol lowers heart attack risk, but increases cancer chance [The Guardian] Moderate consumers were protected greater than light or heavy drinkers, although risk of cancer was greater than non-drinkers.
	2.5 Etiologie - Gènes
Mass. General study identifies genomic differences between breast cancers of African American and white women [Massachusetts General Hospital] Findings may help explain known disparities in cancer survival, lead to more targeted therapies.
	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
'Samsung is to blame' for cancers [Center for Public Integrity] Hundreds of former employees of the electronics giant believe their cancers were caused by workplace exposures to toxic chemicals.
	3.6 Prévention - Activité physique
Healthier lifestyles 'could cut cancer cases by a third' [BBC News] About a third of cancer cases in the UK could be prevented if people ate healthily, exercised more and cut down on alcohol, figures indicate.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Illumina Launch Comprehensive Circulating Tumor DNA Program [Illumina] Collaboration Aims to Determine Range of Opportunities for Non-Invasive Cancer Diagnosis and Monitoring
	5. Traitements
Scientists discover how cells overpower cancer drug [Cancer Research UK] But while HDAC inhibitors can successfully treat certain types of cancer, such as lymphoma, other types survive this disruption. Scientists from the University of Birmingham, suggest that they do this by activating an in-built ‘survival’ response to HDAC inhibitors which rebalances the tags, maintaining normal gene activity and keeping the cells alive.
Use of personalized cancer drugs runs ahead of the science [Nature News & Comment] Clinical trial finds no benefit in speculative prescriptions of treatments tailored to the genetics of individual tumours.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
One Biotech CEO's Plan To Slash The Cost Of Cancer Immunotherapy [Forbes] Curis is embarking on its attempt to pioneer a more affordable generation of cancer immunotherapy with seriously limited resources. Most of the company’s revenues come from royalties on Eviredge (vismodegib), a drug to treat basal cell carcinoma that it licensed to Roche’s Genentech unit.
Expert Opinion – Professor Peter Johnson on cancer immunotherapy [Cancer Research UK] Despite some of the headlines, I’m actually more optimistic about the cost of these antibodies than I am about some new cancer treatments we see. Because the actual process of making them is not especially complex – our PhD students can learn how to make a new antibody in a couple of months.
	5.2 Pharma
Advaxis therapy improves survival rates in cervical cancer patients [Reuters] Advaxis' vaccine was being tested as a standalone treatment for persistent or recurrent metastatic cervical cancer related to the human papilomavirus. The study was sponsored by the Gynecologic Oncology Group, a not-for-profit group.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Third Rock's Nurix inks a $150M immuno-oncology pact with Celgene [FierceBiotech] Under the deal, the partners will work on small-molecule treatments that target the body's ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), a network of enzymes that regulate cell growth and death.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
Robert Califf Could Transform The FDA -- The Right Way [Forbes] Califf seems likely to focus less on how to approve medicines by lowering the bar and more on figuring out how to get the information society needs at a lower cost.
Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo (nivolumab) Receives Breakthrough Therapy Designation from U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma [BMS] Designation based on positive results of the Phase 3 study, CheckMate -025, reinforcing significant unmet medical need in this patient population.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
NICE publishes final draft guidance on nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) for pancreatic cancer [NICE] The cost of using nab-paclitaxel (marketed as Abraxane by Celgene) to treat pancreatic cancer is not justified by its limited benefits compared to current treatments, according to NICE.
Report: Cancer drug spending fuels large increases in Medicare discount drug program [FiercePharma] Cancer drugs have become "the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" for hospitals and clinics participating inMedicare/Medicaid's 340B program, Ted Okon, executive director of Community Oncology Alliance (COA), told The American Journal of Managed Care.
NICE rejects Farydak for multiple myeloma [Pharmafile] A Novartis spokesperson said the Swiss firm remains hopeful that the decision could be reversed, after NICE made “constructive comments which indicate an open-minded view.”
Pancreatic cancer patients denied life-extending drug by spending watchdog [The Telegraph] The health spending watchdog has refused to fund the pancreatic abraxane despite evidence that it can double life expectancy.
NHS failed to collect data on cancer treatment outcome [The Guardian] Health service gave 74,000 cancer patients drugs rejected by the medicines regulator but does not know if their lives were extended, the NAO says.
	5.6 ESMO
Goodbye or arrivederci? [Cancer World] Where will European oncology go from here? This is a question many of us will be asking as the ECCO ESMO congress convenes in Vienna.
	5.9 AACR
New Method of Immunotherapy Delivery Lowers Pain in Children With High-risk Neuroblastoma [AACR] In two clinical trials, an ongoing SIOPEN phase II study (APN311-202) and a closed single-center program (APN311-303), Lode and colleagues enrolled 44 patients and 53 patients, respectively, with high-risk relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma.
CAR T-Cell Therapy Trial Yields Early Promise for Lymphoma and Leukemia Patients [AACR] Loskog explained that third-generation CAR T cells that target a protein called CD19 present on B cells are being tested in the United States with promising outcomes for patients with leukemia.
Pembrolizumab Treatment Causes Immune Cells in Blood to Gain Characteristics of Reinvigoration [AACR] "These findings give us more insights into how pembrolizumab might be working in patients and also could eventually form the basis of a noninvasive biomarker test to predict who might and who might not respond to the immunotherapy."
Small Protein Engineered to Target PD-L1 is More Potent Than Anti-PD-L1 Antibody Immunotherapeutic [AACR] The researchers designed a small-protein antagonist of PD-L1 by using a process called directed evolution. "In the end, our best PD-1 variants bound to PD-L1 about 50,000 times more strongly than the natural PD-1 protein," Ring said. The small-protein, high-affinity PD-1 variant they developed was one-tenth the size of an antibody.
Immune System–boosting Agent CpG-B Reduced Early-stage Melanoma Recurrences CpG-B is a reagent that closely resembles a stretch of bacterial DNA, explained de Gruijl. It is perceived by the human immune system as a sign of danger that calls for an immune response.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
NIH framework points the way forward for building national, large-scale research cohort, a key component of the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative [NIH] NIH plans to move quickly to build the infrastructure so that participants can begin enrolling in the cohort in 2016, with a goal of enrolling at least 1 million participants in three to four years.
Denis Lacombe quietly orchestrating the clinical research revolution [Cancer World] The scientific complexity and economic cost of developing new cancer therapies demand a level of collaboration and sharing that takes both industry and academia well beyond their comfort zones. EORTC head Denis Lacombe believes he has the passion and the vision to help make it happen.
	6.1 Observation
Cancer remains leading cause of death among U.S. Hispanics [Reuters] One shortcoming of the report is that U.S. death certificates and data on patients in cancer registries may not accurately reflect the Hispanic population because some government forms only recently started tracking this population and some patients who are considered by researchers to be part of this group may not self-identify as Hispanic, the authors acknowledge.
New data on how patients are diagnosed – what does it tell us? [Cancer Research UK] New stats published today show that the number of cancer patients diagnosed in an emergency is falling. This is good news: these patients tend to do worse, so a reduction in emergency diagnoses suggests that efforts to diagnose cancers earlier are having an effect. But where do these figures come from?
Hospitalization rates in chemo trials may be misleading [Reuters] Researchers found that people with advanced lung cancer receiving chemotherapy in real-world settings were almost eight times more likely to be hospitalized during treatment than those participating in clinical trials, which are highly controlled and regulated.
	6.5 Médecines alternatives
Another irresponsible breast cancer alternative cure testimonial [Respectful Insolence] In other words, the methods never fail; the patient does. If the cancer recurs, it’s the patient’s fault. So Macklin-Rice believes (apparently) that she must always adhere to a rigid vegan diet and do her Gerson therapy religiously (word choice intentional) for the rest of her life; or her cancer will return and it will have been her fault.
	6.8 Communication
Well: Living With Cancer: Teal Ribbons [NY Times] “Does anyone know that September is Ovarian Cancer Month?” Antoinette Gallelli asks in “Ovarian Cancer, My Walk With It,” a memoir self-published two years ago.
	6.9 Controverses
Nature changes animal policy after cancer study comes under fire [Science] The tumors were only supposed to grow to a maximum of 1.5 cubic centimeters, but some reached 7 cubic centimeters, according to David Vaux, a cell biologist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, who first raised concerns about the paper in 2012.