Onco Actu du 16 octobre 2015

Pour information : Onco Actu interrompt sa parution pendant une semaine

	1. Biologie
Study charts 'genomic biography' of form of leukemia [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] By analyzing genetic material in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and normal tissue from more than 500 patients, researchers identified dozens of genetic abnormalities that may drive the disease, including two that had never before been linked to human cancer.
	2. Etiologie
Study: Bacterium That Causes Q Fever Linked to Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma [ASH] In order to better understand the association between C. burnetii and lymphoma, Dr. Raoult and colleagues screened 1,468 patients treated at the French National Referral Center for Q Fever from 2004 to 2014.
	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
U.S. lawsuits build against Monsanto over alleged Roundup cancer link [Reuters] The litigation follows the World Health Organization's declaration in March that there was sufficient evidence to classify glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans."
	3. Prévention
New framework for genomics-led personalised prevention proposed [PHG Foundation] A vision for genomics and its place in the dawning era of personalised medicine is the focus of a new framework for health, to be discussed at the 8th European Public Health Conference in Milan this week.
	3.1 Tabac
Richard Smith: How public health moralists are promoting harm from tobacco and helping the tobacco industry [BMJ Blogs] The moralisers who react instinctively against e-cigarettes may not only be harming those who find it impossible to stop smoking but also helping tobacco companies.
Talking to kids about smoking risks may help parents quit [Reuters] Researchers followed almost 700 ex-smokers with children for one year. Half of the parents received a series of mailers with educational materials explaining the risks of tobacco and activities to help them discuss these dangers with their children. The other parents served as a control group and didn’t get any help.
	4.1 Dép., diag. & prono. - Prostate
Medicare Initiates Coverage for Genomic Health's Oncotype DX® Prostate Cancer Test Effective Immediately [Genomic Health] The Medicare coverage decision extends reimbursement for Oncotype DX testing to prostate cancer patients defined as low- and very low-risk by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), who are eligible based on specific Medicare criteria including clinical and pathological factors such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and Gleason score.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Blood test could match cancer patients to best treatments [Cancer Research UK] The test filters out tumour DNA from a patient’s blood to be analysed for genetic faults. Based on the results, researchers can match the faults to targeted cancer treatments which then home in on cancer cells carrying these mistakes.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Rare mutation may extend survival in lung cancer patients with brain metastases [YaleNews] “This study is among the first to show that genetic information about tumors can guide decision making for the treatment of brain metastases,” Johung said.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Mammogram False Alarms Are Common, And Worrisome [NPR] There's a broader debate going on about when to start mammography. And when a woman speaks with her primary care doctor about the screening test, "part of that conversation should be educating women just how common these callbacks are," says Tosteson.
	5. Traitements
Study reveals why cancer anemia treatment leads to tumor growth [MD Anderson Cancer Center] Sood’s team revealed EphB4 as a trigger for downstream cell signaling that promotes rhEpo-induced tumor growth and progression. The researchers found that EphB4 enhanced tumor growth via STAT3, a protein or transcription factor vital to gene regulation. The investigation employed both in vivo and in vitro samples.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Five Prime, Bristol Shake Hands Again in New $350M Cancer Pact [Xconomy] Cancer immunotherapy has become all about drug combinations, with drugmakers frantically searching for the right tandems to test to improve the results of treatments that spur on the immune system to fight cancer in one way or another.
Ablynx and Merck begin immuno-oncology collaboration [Pharmafile] Ablynx has achieved a pre-clinical proof-of-concept with a nanobody construct as part of its immuno-oncology collaboration with Merck – triggering a €3.5 million milestone payment to the Belgium biopharma firm.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Pfizer CEO: Drug-pricing snafu isn't pharma's fault. It's insurers and their poor coverage [FiercePharma] Blaming insurers isn't unprecedented either, but it's something of a departure from the typical Big Pharma line about high sticker prices for drugs. The prices are justified--even for 6-figure meds--because of the costs required to develop the latest treatments, pharma execs usually say.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
10 Years And Half A Million Words… [Dr. Len's Blog] So now it is time to look forward. Where I used to focus on specific research articles I now try to focus on thoughts about the trends I have observed, and the promise or concerns I may have about the future (hope, hype, overpromising and under delivering is always in vogue when it comes to cancer care, as it has been from the time I first started my oncology career).
	6.1 Observation
Another health disparity: clinical trials [Fred Hutch] The study used data from a prospective survey of barriers to participation in clinical trials conducted in eight geographically diverse U.S. cancer clinics, including Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutch’s treatment arm.
More evidence poor cancer patients don’t join clinical trials [Reuters] Even after accounting for gender, age, race, travel distance from treatment sites and certain diagnosis details, patients with household income of less than $50,000 a year were 32 percent less likely to enroll in trials than those who make more annually, according to the study published Thursday in JAMA Oncology.
	6.10 Politiques
ABPI hits back at Prime Minister’s criticism of high drug prices [Pharmafile] The ABPI has responded to comments made by UK Prime Minister David Cameron during yesterday’s Prime Minster’s Questions, in which he criticised the high price charged by pharma companies for certain drugs.
	6.5 Médecines alternatives
In the pages of Nature, a full-throated defense of “integrating” quackery into medicine [Respectful Insolence] It is rare that I see an article so full of fallacious reasoning, outright misunderstandings of science and placebo effects, and utter ridiculousness in a scientific journal.
	6.6 Publications
Failure to reproduce key experiments retracts cancer study [Retraction Watch] The paper, “Decreased Warburg effect induced by ATP citrate lyase suppression inhibits tumor growth in pancreatic cancer,” was published in March. It found that suppressing the enzyme ATP citrate lyase could be used to treat pancreatic cancer.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
Automating big-data analysis [MIT News] System that replaces human intuition with algorithms outperforms 615 of 906 human teams.
	6.7.2 Applis
OHSU releases Mole Mapper ResearchKit app to track potential skin cancers [OHSU] Mole Mapper allows individuals to photograph and measure mole sizes relative to a common reference object, like a coin, over time. In addition to providing a more accurate method for tracking, the app gives individuals the opportunity to contribute to a melanoma research initiative.
	6.9 Controverses
Theranos And Its Blood Test Machine [In the Pipeline] This has been a key part of the Silicon-Vally-Meets-Medicine story, and a lot of people are going to be very upset if it falls apart. Theranos, or at least their press coverage, has been as much a cult of personality, though, as a biomedical or analytical chemistry story.