Onco Actu du 26 octobre 2015 (2/2)

	2. Etiologie
Antioxidants, free radicals and melanoma spread – what’s going on? [Cancer Research UK] In other words, while most of the evidence comes from experiments with animals, it’s painting an increasingly complicated picture – far more complex than the simple ‘antioxidants = good’ equation you might be led to believe from a lot of the information you might read online.
Antioxidants May Aid Cancer [The Scientist Magazine] For the second time this month, scientists have reported that antioxidant supplementation sped up cancer growth in mice with melanoma.
	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
International Thyroid Congress Highlights Latest Research on Cancer Risk Factors and New Therapies for Thyroid Disease [American Thyroid Association] Radiation exposure risk from Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear accidents discussed at largest international thyroid congress in over 5 years.
	5. Traitements
Learning From Dogs With Cancer [NY Times] No medicine developed first in dogs has yet crossed over for human use, according to Lisa Troutman, a veterinarian in the F.D.A.’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.
Looking Back at Sutent’s Development: Problems or Not? [In the Pipeline] If this paper wants to come to the conclusion that preclinical oncology needs improvement, I absolutely agree. But I can’t endorse (or not yet) the idea that sunitinib’s particular case was hurt by anything more than those same limits.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
ImmunoGen, Roche gastric cancer drug fails study [Reuters] Kadcyla, approved in 2013 for the treatment of late-stage breast cancer, was being tested as a second-line treatment for gastric cancer in the late-stage study.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
With New Startup, Caperna, Moderna Gets in on Cancer Vaccine Buzz [Xconomy] While it’s still unclear just what type of progress the messenger RNA specialist has made scientifically, it’s just put more of that cash to use today by christening its fourth drugmaking subsidiary.
Discovery opens door to new strategy for cancer immunotherapy [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] “The next step is to identify antibodies and small-molecule drugs that can successfully target Helios or genes in the Helios pathway,” said the study’s lead author, Hye-Jung Kim, PhD, of Dana-Farber. “We are currently testing a variety of such agents.”
Biotech billionaire Soon-Shiong strikes $50M deal for control of cancer vaccines [FierceBiotech] The idea at the company is to use its specially designed antibodies to kick up a tumor-specific immune response, fitting into a broad strategy of developing new immunotherapeutics for cancer.
Big science: Upstart Gritstone bags $102M to go after a new immuno-oncology target [FierceBiotech] The next step in the company's evolution will be to identify vaccine partners who can bring the right kind of technology--perhaps using tech like virus-like particles--to the table.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Lilly and AstraZeneca Expand Immuno-Oncology Research Collaboration with New Combinations [Lilly] AstraZeneca's anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, durvalumab (MEDI4736), will be combined with Lilly molecules that target the immune system.
MacroGenics and Merck to Collaborate on Immuno-Oncology Study Evaluating Margetuximab in Combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) for Advanced Gastric Cancer [Merck] Clinical trial to evaluate MacroGenics' Fc-optimized anti-HER2 antibody with Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy in patients with advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer.
	5.2.2 Pharma - Fusions & Acquisitions
Novartis broadens immuno-oncology pipeline with acquisition of Admune Therapeutics and licensing agreements with XOMA and Palobiofarma [Novartis] All three programs will be explored as monotherapies and in combination with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CART) technology, novel checkpoint inhibitors, STING agonists and Novartis' deep portfolio of targeted therapies.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Synta gets decimated after its lead cancer drug comes up short in Phase III [FierceBiotech] Doing so sent Synta's shares down more than 70% overnight, as the failure of the biotech's lead asset leaves it rudderless in the near term.
Synta halts study of lung cancer treatment, stock plummets [Reuters] The late stage study aimed to see if a combination of its drug ganetespib with chemotherapy drug docetaxel would work better than docetaxel alone for advanced non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
Pfizer’s Inotuzumab Ozogamicin Receives FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) [Pfizer] The Breakthrough Therapy designation was based on the results of the Phase 3 INO-VATE ALL trial, which enrolled 326 adult patients with relapsed or refractory CD22-positive ALL and compared inotuzumab ozogamicin to standard of care chemotherapy.
Pfizer's once-failed cancer drug wins the FDA's 'breakthrough' tag [FierceBiotech] Inotuzumab ozogamic is a so-called antibody-drug conjugate, hitching a cytotoxic compound to an antibody targeting the antigen CD22 and thus shuttling a cancer-killing substance straight to its malignant target.
Is 1 in 7 Odds a Breakthrough? Is it Even Promising? [HealthNewsReview] So rather than headlining the health report with “The FDA has approved a promising new cancer drug,” perhaps it would be more accurate, if less exciting, to report, “The FDA has approved a new cancer drug that based on recent experience probably won’t work.”
Study: Two-thirds of new cancer drugs not found to extend life [Journal Sentinel] "Everolimus is used quite frequently in breast cancer care," he said. "It adds toxicity, and doesn't appear to improve survival. It is still out there."
Researchers Question FDA's Use of Surrogate Endpoints for Cancer Drug Approvals [RAPS] The authors of the letter – Chul Kim, MD, MPH of the National Cancer Institute and Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH of the Knight Cancer Center – looked at cancer drugs approved from 2008 through 2012 to determine if surrogate endpoints were able to demonstrate improvements in overall survival once on the market.
The problem with using surrogate markers to approve cancer drugs [Pharmalot] This is a cautionary tale of what can happen when regulatory decisions are based on proxy measures without proof that drugs are extending lives.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
J&J's cancer drug finally wins FDA approval after 6 years of delay [FierceBiotech] For J&J, the approval is a bright conclusion to a long R&D journey. The company licensed Yondelis from Spanish drugmaker Zeltia back in 2001, working to develop it as a treatment for ovarian cancer.
Amgen wins EU green light for first virus-based cancer drug [Reuters] The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said its experts had recommended approval of Imlygic, also known as talimogene laherparepvec or "T-Vec", for treating melanoma, making it another option among several new drugs for the most deadly form of skin cancer.
First oncolytic immunotherapy medicine recommended for approval [EMA] Imlygic is derived from a virus (herpex simplex virus-1) that has been genetically engineered to infect and replicate (make copies of itself) within cancer cells and to produce the protein GM-CSF. It is thought to work in two ways.
FDA approves new therapy for certain types of advanced soft tissue sarcoma [FDA] The effectiveness and safety of Yondelis were demonstrated in 518 clinical trial participants with metastatic or recurrent leiomyosarcoma or liposarcoma. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either Yondelis (345 patients) or dacarbazine (173 patients), another chemotherapy drug.
U.S. FDA Approves YONDELIS® (trabectedin) for the Treatment of Patients with Unresectable or Metastatic Liposarcoma or Leiomyosarcoma, Two Common Subtypes of Soft Tissue Sarcoma [Johnson & Johnson] Approval based on largest Phase 3 study conducted to date in this patient population.
FDA approves new treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer [FDA] The effectiveness of Onivyde was demonstrated in a three-arm, randomized, open label study of 417 patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma whose cancer had grown after receiving the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine or a gemcitabine-based therapy.
FDA clears J&J's chemotherapy for certain soft tissue sarcomas [Reuters] Yondelis, which won European approval in 2007, is FDA-approved for use in patients who have previously received treatment containing the chemotherapeutic agent anthracycline.
FDA clears Merrimack's pancreatic cancer drug with warning [Reuters] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Merrimack Pharmaceutical Inc's pancreatic cancer drug, Onivyde, with a severe safety warning.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
We need drug pricing changes , agree Cancer Drugs Fund chief and pharma [PharmaPhorum] Could the pharma industry and the NHS be a step closer to agreeing real risk sharing and flexible drug pricing?
To reduce the cost of drugs, consider reference pricing [The Incidental Economist] There is a way to keep prices low while encouraging drug companies to innovate: Look to Europe and elsewhere, where drug prices are a fraction of those in the United States.
NCCN Unveils Evidence Blocks for CML and Multiple Myeloma [NCCN] “NCCN Evidence Blocks will educate providers and patients about the efficacy, safety, and affordability of systemic therapy, serving as a starting point for shared decision-making based on the individual patient’s value system.”
U.S. oncology group rates blood cancer regimens, including cost [Reuters] The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a nonprofit alliance of 26 leading cancer centers, said its new "Evidence Blocks" for multiple myeloma and chronic myelogenous leukemia are the first in a series that by the end of next year will encompass all oncology therapies, other than surgery or radiation.
U.S. drug prices should reflect value to patients: expert panel [Reuters] A panel of medical experts said on Friday the prices of prescription medicines in the United States need to be brought in line with the value they bring to patients instead of continuing to let drugmakers set any price they choose.
	5.9.1 ASTRO
A subset of patients with metastatic melanoma achieves clinical benefit from combination of immunotherapy and radiation therapy [ASTRO] In this study, 20 patients with stage IV melanoma were treated with palliative RT and intravenous ipilimumab (3mg/kg) every three weeks, for a total of four treatment cycles.
	6.9 Controverses
Claims rhubarb pigment 'could help cancer crumble' [NHS Choices] The front page of the Daily Express announces that, "Rhubarb can save your life," while other headlines state, "cancer-killing drug of rhubarb [will be available] 'within years' " – but these claims are unsupported by the facts. Tests were only carried out on cancer cells in the laboratory and in mice.