Onco Actu du 1er décembre 2015

	1. Biologie
BRCA1 Linked to Alzheimer’s [The Scientist] The cancer-related protein BRCA1 is important for learning and memory in mice and is depleted in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, according to a study.
DNA repair factor linked to breast cancer may also play a role in Alzheimer’s disease [National Institutes of Health] When Dr. Mucke’s group examined brains of patients who died with Alzheimer’s, they discovered low levels of BRCA1. In addition, the researchers found reductions of BRCA1 in the brains of mouse models of Alzheimer’s. In fact, experimental reduction of BRCA1 levels in brains of healthy mice made their brain cells shrink and become dysfunctional.
	3.1 Tabac
Cancer Research UK responds to BBC Panorama claims of wrong doing by British American Tobacco in Africa [Cancer Research UK] The programme alleges that British American Tobacco Group making payments in Africa to politicians including Government Ministers and officials.
Researching the Safety and Effectiveness of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems: What Have We Learned? [CANCER RESEARCH Catalyst] There remains much that we do not know about ENDS, but we simply cannot assume they are safe or effective without sufficient evidence.
	4.10 Dép., diag. & prono. - Poumon
Lung cancer experts call for improved EGFR mutation testing to allow all eligible NSCLC patients access to personalised treatment [Boehringer Ingelheim] Insights from Western Europe and North America reflect on gaps in EGFR testing and treatment by mutation subtype, and provide country-level context as a catalyst for change.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Cancer’s genetic tipping point reveals who’d benefit from chemo [New Scientist] Logic would suggest that the more unstable a tumour’s genome, the more chance it has of randomly generating the mutations it needs to develop. But now Carlo Maley from Arizona State University and colleagues have shown that this isn’t the whole story. As a tumour’s genome becomes increasingly unstable, at a certain point, the cancer becomes less aggressive, and a person’s survival starts to improve.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
This Nuclear Physicist Is Using Her Skills and Passion to Build a Better Mammography Machine [GE Reports] Braga, who is Italian, works at GE Healthcare’s facility just outside Paris. Last year, she and her team of 120 engineers brought digital breast tomosynthesis to market.
	5. Traitements
The American Society of Hematology and McMaster University Announce Partnership to Develop Clinical Practice Guidelines on Venous Thromboembolism [ASH] Specific topics to be addressed in these guidelines include prevention of VTE in surgical and nonsurgical patients, diagnosis of VTE, treatment of DVT and PE, optimal management of anticoagulation therapy, thrombophilia, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, VTE in the context of pregnancy, VTE in patients with cancer, and VTE in pediatric populations.
Lung Cancer Precision Medicine Trials [National Cancer Institute] The trials are enrolling two very different patient populations: ALCHEMIST is enrolling patients with early-stage lung cancer, whereas Lung-MAP is enrolling patients with advanced disease. But both trials have a key feature in common: assigning patients to a treatment on the basis of their tumors’ molecular makeup.
	5.2.2 Pharma - Fusions & Acquisitions
Pfizer: One Step Ahead of the Mudslide [In the Pipeline] The real take-home, though, as Munos puts it, is that “A company that needs repeated mega-acquisitions to keep afloat is inherently unsustainable“.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
The Economist’s Take On Drug Discovery [In the Pipeline] The Economist article goes on to say that there’s a new model in the drug industry – bringing in drug that are already partway through development. That leaves out the fact that larger companies have been doing this for decades, and in fact were doing that during that 1995-2007 period that they’re citing as unrepresentative of the New Era.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
Law for rare disease drugs needs revamping, researchers say [STAT] Any time a drug is approved by FDA to help patients, it should be celebrated. But if we create a special mechanism for a drug that ends up being more commonly used after approval, we believe there will be less research conducted for drugs for true orphan diseases. Companies will direct their efforts to wider populations. As a cancer doctor, there are patients that were being helped by the Act, but they may not be in the future.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
Bristol-Myers Squibb and AbbVie Receive FDA Approval of Empliciti™ (elotuzumab) for the Treatment of Patients with Multiple Myeloma Who Have Received One to Three Prior Therapies [BMS] First and only immunostimulatory antibody approved for multiple myeloma.
FDA approves new Bristol-Myers treatment for multiple myeloma [Reuters] The FDA said that Empliciti is the second immuno-oncology treatment for multiple myeloma to be approved, after Johnson & Johnson's Darzalex. Bristol-Myers and AbbVie Inc co-developed the drug, but Empliciti will be sold only by Bristol-Myers.
FDA approves Empliciti, a new immune-stimulating therapy to treat multiple myeloma [FDA] Those taking Empliciti plus Revlimid and dexamethasone experienced a delay in the amount of time before their disease worsened (19.4 months) compared to participants taking only Revlimid and dexamethasone (14.9 months).
	5.8.2 ASH - Pharma
New Data from Bayer’s Portfolio in Thrombosis, Hematology, and Oncology to be Presented at ASH 2015 [Bayer] One abstract on copanlisib in a subset of patients from the completed Part A of a Phase II Study will be presented. Part B, an extension of this Phase II Study in relapsed, refractory indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), is currently ongoing (CHRONOS-1).
Juno Therapeutics Announces Data Presentations at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting [Juno Therapeutics] The clinical data in ALL, NHL, and CLL continue to be encouraging. The response rates and durability of responses across a range of B cell malignancies provide important insights on how persistence and depth of response translate into improved clinical outcomes, and are applicable to our portfolio broadly.
Novartis highlights clinical advances at ASH 2015, underscoring leadership in hematology research [Novartis] Presentations will highlight data across leukemias, lymphomas and myelomas as well as supportive care, including key findings in rare and difficult-to-treat patient populations, in addition to personalized cell therapies.
Bristol-Myers Squibb to Present New Data across Multiple Blood Cancers at the 57th Annual Meeting & Exposition of the American Society of Hematology [BMS] Extended follow-up and overall survival update from pivotal ELOQUENT-2 trial, evaluating elotuzumab as combination therapy in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, to be presented.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Cancer patients may benefit from mindfulness-based therapy [Reuters] To learn more about how a mindfulness approach may work in oncology, researchers analyzed data from seven previously published studies that included 469 cancer patients who received this type of therapy and 419 who didn’t.
The Francis Crick Institute: science and serendipity [Times Higher Supplement] Is the biomedical research facility dubbed ‘Sir Paul’s cathedral’ built on sound foundations?
	6.10 Politiques
Many in Congress invest in companies they'll affect with votes [STAT] Members of Congress owned more stock in health-related companies last year than in the defense and construction sectors combined, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
Five Key Issues For The Future Of Cancer IT [Forbes] In the context of a new cancer diagnosis, people are vulnerable to coercion: “Our hospital is participating in a program where all the samples and test results are being collected to be analyzed and help future cancer patients. Will you sign here?”