Onco Actu du 23 septembre 2015

	1. Biologie
Rare variants are not so rare after all, new study finds [The Institute of Cancer Research] Each UK individual has an average of 160 rare genetic variants, present in only 0.1% of the population – according to an in-depth analysis of a new genetic information resource.
	2.5 Etiologie - Gènes
NIH Awards $13M in Grants Toward Identifying Genomic Variants [GEN] While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may find hundreds of variants that appear to be associated with a disease, there are believed to be tens of millions of genetic variants. It remains a challenge to find out which variants actually have a role in the disease process, and what that role might be, NIH added.
	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
When Radiation Isn’t the Real Risk [NY Times] Four years after the nuclear accident at Fukushima, no one has been killed or sickened by radioactivity. But 1,600 died fleeing the disaster.
	3.1 Tabac
E-cigarettes used by 1 in 20 Scots, says health survey [BBC News] One in 20 adults in Scotland use e-cigarettes and a sixth of adults have tried them, according to an annual survey of Scottish households.
	3.4.1 Chimioprévention - aspirine
A Great Month for Aspirin [CANCER RESEARCH Catalyst] We may have come a little closer to finding an answer to the debate on who will benefit from taking aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and some cancers, and who will not.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Craig Venter's company in deal for whole exome tests at new low cost [Reuters] Venter's company, Human Longevity Inc, will provide the tests at a cost of $250 each through a special incentive program offered by Discovery Ltd, an insurer with clients in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
	5. Traitements
Molecular 'Feedback Loop' May Explain Tamoxifen Resistance in Patients with Breast Cancer [Johns Hopkins] Because “a large number of women on tamoxifen eventually become resistant, these results suggest that it might be better to start using MYC inhibitors right from the start, to prevent tamoxifen resistance from happening altogether,” Sukumar suggests.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
Update on publication of clinical data [EMA] EMA publishes summaries and presentations from stakeholder consultations on the implementation of its policy on publication of clinical data.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
FDA approves new advanced colorectal cancer pill [Pharma Times] Lonsurf is already approved in Japan, and is also currently being reviewed by regulators in Europe.
FDA approves new oral medication to treat patients with advanced colorectal cancer [FDA] The efficacy and safety of Lonsurf were evaluated in an international, randomized, double-blind study involving 800 patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
What's a fair price for a drug? [BBC News] Agreeing a price for any drug is a tricky business. In the UK, the NHS is the main buyer and prices are set through a voluntary scheme between manufacturers and the government, trying to strike the right balance of serving patients and generating money to keep the drug pipeline going. Profits are capped to stop prices creeping too high.
Clinton proposes $250 monthly cap on prescription drug costs [Reuters] Clinton also said the government could get billions of dollars in additional tax revenue by no longer allowing pharmaceutical companies to deduct what they spend marketing drugs to consumers.
Hillary Clinton Proposes Cap on Patients’ Drug Costs as Bernie Sanders Pushes His Plan [NY Times] “This is an astonishingly naïve approach,” Amitabh Chandra, a professor of public policy at Harvard University, said in an email. He argued that the plan could encourage wasteful research spending without necessarily doing much about the prices charged for medications.
Enough Is Enough [Center for American Progress] The Time Has Come to Address Sky-High Drug Prices.
Hillary Clinton Drug Plan Would Cap Consumer Costs, Mandate R&D Spending [Bloomberg] ``These sweeping and far-reaching proposals would restrict patients’ access to medicines, result in fewer new treatments for patients, cost countless jobs across the country and erode our nation’s standing as the world leader in biomedical innovation," said PhRMA president John Castellani.
Public Health: Why Some Policy Experts Question Clinton’s Plan to Contain Drug Costs [NY Times] Mrs. Clinton’s choice is interesting not just because it is relatively novel in the health policy debate, but also because it represents a strategy very different from the one used in nearly every other developed country to constrain drug spending.
Exclusive: Americans overpaying hugely for cancer drugs - academic study [Reuters] The United States also pays more than double the price charged in Europe for these drugs - so-called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), a potent class of cancer pills with fewer side effects than chemotherapy.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Surgeon Seeks To Help Women Navigate Breast Cancer Treatment [NPR] Port is the author of The New Generation Breast Cancer Book, which seeks to relieve patients of the information overload that frequently accompanies a cancer diagnosis and advise them of their options.
	6.1 Observation
Europe has 'alarming' rates of smoking, drinking and obesity: WHO [Reuters] Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO's European regional director, applauded the improvements in health and the steady gains in life expectancy but added a warning. "There is a very real risk that these gains will be lost if smoking and alcohol consumption continue at the current rate," she said.
	6.11 Patients
I blamed our poverty on my mother. Her breast cancer reunited us [The Guardian] For the first time in my life, I was seeing her hurt in a way I could not hold her responsible for, or even blame her for, like I had done many times before. I held her – the way she used to hold me in my moments of need as a little boy.
	6.8 Communication
What do "breakthrough" and "promising" mean to people? [HealthNewsReview] Given how often “breakthroughs” and “promising” developments are trumpeted in news stories – even in this context of how the FDA uses the term – it’s probably not surprising that this study didn’t get much news attention.