Onco Actu du 2 octobre 2015

	1. Biologie
Study shows new ‘driver’ to assess cancer patient survival and drug sensitivity [MD Anderson Cancer Center] An assessment of 6,226 samples from patients with 17 different cancer types taken from The Cancer Genome Atlas has revealed new information about RNA editing events in tumors versus normal tissue, and provided evidence that RNA editing could selectively affect drug sensitivity.
Do you think that’s air you’re breathing? How cancer cells corrupt the matrix [Cancer Research UK] The discovery centres on a particular type of cell called a cancer-associated fibroblast, or CAF for short. These are cells that tumours recruit to support them as they grow and spread.
	2. Etiologie
Study supports cancer link with height [BBC News] Its results found that for every extra 10cm (4in) of height, when fully grown, the risk of developing cancer increased by 18% in women and 11% in men.
Taller people more likely to get cancer, say researchers [The Guardian] “One possible reason is that taller people have a larger number of cells in their body which could potentially transform to cancer. It could also be that taller individuals have a higher energy intake which has previously been linked to cancer.”
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
Citizen Scientists can spot cancer cells like pathologists, so what happens next? [Cancer Research UK] Three years ago we launched the Cell Slider project. And like a scientific version of spot the difference, members of the public were asked to identify breast cancer cells and gauge how brightly they were coloured by looking at images on the project’s website. 98,293 Citizen Scientists took up the challenge. And now the results are in.
Podcast: Dr. Otis Brawley on "pathologic profiling" [HealthNewsReview] Despite many advances in studying cancer, we still use a definition of cancer from the 1850s. That’s what Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, told the recent Preventing Overdiagnosis 2015 conference at the National Institutes of Health. As a result, he says, the belief continues that a cancer will kill because it looks like other cancers that spread and killed in the 1850s (audio - 16 mn).
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Cancer Immunotherapy: The Cutting Edge Gets Sharper [Scientific American] It was standing room only for many of the presentations at the first International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference, which took place from September 16 to 19. Speaker after speaker started their talks by disclosing financial ties to a variety of companies ranging from pharmaceutical giants to their own start-ups.
Opdivo TV Commercial, 'Longer Life' [iSpot.tv] Opdivo is the first FDA approved Immunotherapy treatment that may help those who suffer from advanced squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (video - 1.30 mn).
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Houston Biotech DNAtrix Partners With Merck on Brain Cancer Treatment [Xconomy] In phase 1 clinical trials of its drug that started in 2009, Tufaro said that, for example, three patients who were treated at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, saw their tumors completely disappear.
Merck and DNAtrix Announce Phase 2 Immuno-Oncology Collaboration in Patients with Aggressive Form of Brain Cancer [Merck] DNX-2401 is a conditionally replicative oncolytic adenovirus designed to specifically target cells defective in the Retinoblastoma (Rb) pathway, which is present in many cancers.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
European Medicines Agency's Management Board nominates Guido Rasi as Executive Director [EMA] Executive Director to be appointed following hearing at European Parliament.
European drugs agency reappoints head after hiring debacle [Reuters] LONDON Italy's Guido Rasi is set to resume his leadership of the European Medicines Agency, following a year-long hiatus caused by a mess-up over the way he was originally appointed.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
Nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab [FDA] Approval was based on demonstration of an increase in the objective response rate (ORR), prolonged response durations, and improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) in an international, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, two-arm, active-controlled trial in patients who were previously untreated for unresectable or metastatic, BRAF V600 wild-type melanoma.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Receives Approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Opdivo (nivolumab) + Yervoy (ipilimumab) Regimen in BRAF V600 Wild-Type Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma [BMS] The approval is based on data from the pivotal study, CheckMate -069, which was the first to report outcomes of the Opdivo + Yervoy Regimen in previously untreated patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma.
FDA Approves Bristol-Myers’s Yervoy, Opdivo for Treatment of Melanoma [Wall Street Journal] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first therapy combining two cutting-edge cancer drugs that unleash the body’s immune system against tumors—a combination that will cost more than $250,000 per patient for the first full year, according to its manufacturer.
FDA approves Bristol-Myers drug combination for skin cancer [Reuters] Four doses of the combination would cost $141,000, about 6 percent more than the cost of Yervoy alone. Those who respond to the combination would continue receiving Opdivo alone, bringing the cost for a year of treatment to $256,000, a Bristol-Myers spokeswoman told Reuters.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Call for Britain to over-ride patents on Roche cancer drug [Reuters] As well as being rejected by NICE, from next month Kadcyla will also not be covered by the Cancer Drugs Fund - set up to pay for drugs turned down by NICE - prompting Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan recently to call Britain's drug system "stupid".
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Rising Cancer Rates Threaten Economic Stability [ACS] Authored by researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the American Cancer Society, and Imperial College of London, the commentary says in the absence of the implementation of prevention, LMICs will not have the resources to diagnose and treat all new cancer patients, and the economic burden will soon become unsustainable. The commentary appears in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).
Why Doctors Are Rethinking Breast-Cancer Treatment [TIME] Too much chemo. Too much radiation. And way too many mastectomies.
	6.1 Observation
Doctors often overtreat with radiation in late-stage lung cancer [UIC] The new analysis looked at 47,000 patients who received palliative radiation for stage 4 lung cancer in the U.S. between 2004 and 2012 and found that about one in five had received chemotherapy at the same time. Nearly a third of patients received more than 25 radiation treatments — 10 above the recommended maximum.
Genetic counseling is rare among BRCA-tested women [Reuters] "I think as we imagine a world in which genomics is a daily practice of medicine, traditional models of genetic counseling are probably not feasible."
	6.11 Patients
Well: Living With Cancer: My Doctor, My Friend [NY Times] When my situation took a decided downturn, Dr. Matei arrived at the infusion room, plunked herself on the floor by my feet, and mournfully said, “You are my worst-doing patient.” She was doing her best, to no avail. At that moment, paradoxically, she became my friend.
A tumor stole every memory I had. This is what happened when it all came back [Quartz] It turns out Greenfield’s operation was beyond successful. My tumor had been reduced to a fraction of its original size, making it an easy target for a proposed six-week, daily bout of targeted radiation. There was now hope for not just a cure, but a permanent cure.