Onco Actu du 8 octobre 2015

	1. Biologie
Why elephants could hold the cure for cancer [The Telegraph] Elephants carry 20 copies of a tumour suppressing gene called TP53 which stops damaged DNA reproducing and causing tumours, scientists have found.
	1.3 Prix Nobel
A Nobel for DNA Repair [In the Pipeline] This is not a prize that registered on the most comprehensive list of odds for the prize (although another DNA repair response possibility did). It’s a good award, though, because this is a critical process for life, and at one point no one thought that any of it existed.
4 ways that Tomas Lindahl’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry revolutionised cancer research [Cancer Research UK] Tomas was the first director of Cancer Research UK-funded labs at Clare Hall in London, when it opened in 1986. Under his inspirational leadership, it became, and remains, a world-leading centre for studying how cells repair their DNA.
Nobel discoveries on DNA repair now fueling cancer drug research [Reuters] In a blog post earlier this year, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, noted that most of the original work on DNA repair mechanisms was done in bacteria, "with no expectation of medical relevance."
Nobel prize for chemistry: Lindahl, Modrich and Sancar win for DNA research [The Guardian] Their research mapped and explained how the cell repairs its DNA in order to prevent errors occurring in genetic information.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 [Nobel Prize] The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 is awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for having mapped, at a molecular level, how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the genetic information. Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions and is, for instance, used for the development of new cancer treatments.
	4.1 Dép., diag. & prono. - Prostate
Myriad Genetics and Tufts Health Plan Sign Agreement to Cover Prolaris(R) for Members With Localized Prostate Cancer [Myriad] Prolaris is the first and only biopsy test validated against prostate cancer specific mortality.
	4.5 Dép., diag. & prono. - Colorectal
Bowel screening kit with extras could help save more lives [Cancer Research UK] Thousands more people would take part in bowel cancer screening if the kit included extras, such as gloves and “poo catchers”, according to a Cancer Research UK study published today in Biomed Research International.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
CMS Increases Final Pricing Determination for Oncotype DX® Breast Cancer Test to Previously Established Rate of $3,416 [Genomic Health] This means the payment rate for the Oncotype DX breast cancer test will remain at the current contracted rate of $3,416 through 2016.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
The federal employee of the year [The Washington Post] Dr. Steven Rosenberg : In the early development of our immunotherapy approaches, we treated 66 patients in a row whose metastatic cancer progressed and they all died. Finally in 1984, we treated a young woman who had widespread melanoma and it disappeared after treatment. The greatest challenge that I had in leading this group of doctors and scientists was to keep them focused and optimistic despite all of the failures.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Horizon Discovery Group plc In-licenses Oncology Programme from Servier and Enters Option Agreement [Horizon] Horizon will use its world-leading platform, comprising isogenic cell lines and in vivo models, CRISPR-Cas9 mediated gene editing technology and ultra-high-throughput combination screening, to identify the population of cancer patients most likely to respond to the in-licensed compounds, whether as single agents or in combinations with other drugs.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Outrage over drug prices may not force change: Richard Evans explains [Pharmalot] Having run drug pricing at Roche for eight years, I specifically avoided actions that could likely result in my boss getting a subpoena. That’s something we really wanted to avoid. I think those companies still have the same mindset. Some of these other companies are less concerned about it. Otherwise they might not take those huge price increases.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Pfizer Announce Investigational Immunotherapy Avelumab Receives FDA Fast Track Designation for Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma [Pfizer] Fast Track milestone for avelumab builds upon recent Orphan Drug designation in this aggressive skin cancer.
European Medicines Agency Recommends Granting a Marketing Authorisation for Carfilzomib [ESMO] It is intended for treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy.
EMA Recommends Granting a Marketing Authorisation for Blinatumomab [ESMO] It is intended for the treatment of adults with Philadelphia chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
NICE gives green light to pembrolizumab for advanced skin cancer [NICE] Pembrolizumab was the first drug to be approved through the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s Early Access to Medicine Scheme (EAMS).
U.S. cancer doctors drop pricey drugs with little or no effect [Reuters] At least half a dozen drugs, including colon cancer treatments Cyramza, from Eli Lilly & Co, and Stivarga, sold by Bayer AG, aren't worth prices that can exceed $100,000 a year, top cancer specialists said in interviews with Reuters.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Frozen ovarian transplants 'safe and effective' [NHS Choices] The research may pave the way for this treatment to become more routinely used in the UK. As yet, it is uncertain whether it would be funded by the NHS, so undergoing this procedure could prove expensive.
Cancer Research UK invests £15 million to unite finest minds across UK to develop better treatments [Cancer Research UK] The Cancer Research UK Centres Network Accelerator Award is a new initiative which provides infrastructure support to research centres in order to encourage collaboration between different organisations and boost ‘bench to bedside’ science.
The Commission on Cancer: An “Unsung Hero” Of Cancer Care [Dr. Len's Blog] But when you walk in the door, do you ever wonder who does the check-up to be certain that the hospital meets acceptable standards of cancer care? Is there anyone watching the store? For more than 1500 hospitals across the country, that organization is the Commission on Cancer (CoC). Established by the American College of Surgeons in 1922, the Commission on Cancer develops standards to ensure high quality, comprehensive care for cancer patients.
	6.1 Observation
Bowel cancer death rate falling faster in the UK than in most other EU countries [Cancer Research UK] The researchers examined changes in bowel cancer mortality by age and sex across 34 European countries between 1970 and 2011.
Gay, bisexual men report more indoor tanning, skin cancer [Reuters] Based on the data, the researchers found the prevalence of skin cancer among gay and bisexual men ranged from about 4 to 7 percent, compared to about 3 percent among heterosexual men.
	6.11 Patients
Discussing life expectancy gives advanced cancer patients realistic view [Reuters] Researchers asked the patients whether their oncologist had ever given them a prognosis with a life expectancy estimate, then asked the patients to estimate their own life expectancy and to complete assessments of emotional distress, whether they had advance directives and their end-of-life care preferences.
	6.7.3 DMP
Electronic health records software often written without doctors’ input [Reuters] The reason why many doctors find electronic health records (EHR) difficult to use might be that the software wasn't properly tested, researchers suggests.