Onco Actu du 13 janvier 2016

	3.1 Tabac
Stop smoking services at threat as funding comes under pressure [Cancer Research UK] The new 2014/15 report finds that in two out of five areas funding is being cut back. In addition half of all services are being reconfigured or recommissioned indicating a high level of change across the country.
	4.1 Dép., diag. & prono. - Prostate
MRI technique offers painless follow-up for prostate cancer patients [The Institute of Cancer Research] As an alternative to biopsies, the researchers used DW-MRI to measure the movement of water molecules within body tissues. This helped them to determine the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the prostate tissue, which is relatively high in normal prostate tissue, but low in cancerous prostate tissue.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Genetic cancer screening would detect illness with a blood test [Nature News & Comment] A major player's entry into DNA-based detection of incipient tumours will test the technology's potential.
Hypewatch: Journalists need to pour some cold water into that “Grail” [HealthNewsReview] Bloomberg’s reporting doesn’t touch on this critical issue, perhaps because the only sources quoted are enthusiastic company representatives.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI) to Offer Oncology Products Including Comprehensive Whole Germline, Tumor Genome and Whole Cancer Exome Products [HLI] With HLI’s comprehensive whole germline and cancer genome product, a patient’s germline is sequenced to 30x coverage and compared to their tumor genome which will be sequenced to 90x coverage.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
More research needed on evaluation of dense breasts [UC Davis] A systematic review of the scientific literature on dense breasts by researchers at UC Davis and other institutions has found that determinations of breast density can be unreliable and that as many as 19 percent of women are re-categorized as dense rather than non-dense or vice versa from one mammogram to the next.
	5.2 Pharma
U.S. and European Regulators Accept Applications for AbbVie's Venetoclax, the First Potential BCL-2 Inhibitor for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia [AbbVie] Venetoclax is an inhibitor of the B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) protein being developed in partnership with Genentech and Roche to treat CLL. Venetoclax is believed to lead some cells, including some cells with CLL, to undergo apoptosis, or cell death.
Roche says FDA grants priority review for cancer drug application [Reuters] Analysts have said the drug (venetoclax) has 'blockbuster' sales potential, meaning sales of more than $1 billion a year, and U.S. regulators had already fast-tracked it for approval last May by designating it a breakthrough therapy.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Merck, BioLineRX to study drug combo to fight pancreatic cancer [Reuters] The companies will partner in a mid-stage study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of BioLineRx's BL-8040 and Merck's Keytruda in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Cancer Therapy Promise Makes Roche the Darling of Drug Stocks [Bloomberg] Oncology is one of the fastest-growing therapy areas, accounting for about 20 percent of branded drug sales.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
Candidate to Run F.D.A. Is Approved, but Likely to Be Blocked [NY Times] Approval by the full Senate, however, is unlikely to happen soon, because Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has pledged to block his candidacy over the agency’s approval of genetically engineered salmon.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
ASCO Calls for Improvements to Clinical Pathway Programs in Oncology [ASCO] “In too many cases, clinical pathways are undermining physicians’ ability to optimally care for their patients with cancer and limiting patient choice.”
	6.1 Observation
Breast cancer and delays in surgery [Respectful Insolence] This sort of analysis is also yet another bit of data demonstrating that conventional treatments work. After all, if a conventional treatment didn’t work, it wouldn’t matter how long you waited to administer it.
	6.10 Politiques
​ AACR Thanks President Obama and Vice President Biden for Their Strong Commitment to Cancer Research and Biomedical Science in State of the Union Address [AACR] As the world’s first and largest scientific organization committed to preventing and curing all cancers through innovative research, education, communication, and collaboration, the AACR and its 39,000 members are unified in their interest of working alongside the President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Congress to end cancer.
Joe Biden launches his cancer 'moonshot' [STAT] Biden said he and his team will work to reach “unprecedented levels of cooperation” among the nation’s leading cancer centers and encourage technology companies to facilitate the sharing of medical data.
Cancer ‘moonshot’ will actually be a collection of smaller initiatives [Washington Post] “A single approach to cancer...ain’t going to happen,” said Jose Baselga, president of the American Association for Cancer Research and chief medical officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “Cancer, we’ve learned, is far more complex than we’ve ever imagined. Every single tumor is different.”
ASCO Praises President’s Sharp Focus on Cancer [ASCO] We must recommit to vastly speeding the discovery of new cancer treatments and enabling the possibility of precision medicine for every individual with cancer. With the effective application of “big data” initiatives, such as ASCO’s CancerLinQ rapid-learning system, insights that have taken years to discern could happen much more quickly, helping us to better understand which treatments work best for each patient and the high impact areas where additional research is critically needed.
Obama proposes “cancer moonshot” in State of the Union address [Nature News & Comment] The effort will be led by Vice-President Joe Biden, whose son Beau died of brain cancer last year.
Inspiring a New Generation to Defy the Bounds of Innovation: A Moonshot to Cure Cancer. [Medium] Tonight, the President tasked me with leading a new, national mission to get this done. It’s personal for me. But it’s also personal for nearly every American, and millions of people around the world.
'America can cure cancer': Obama announces national effort to fight disease [The Guardian] Barack Obama has channeled John Kennedy’s space race with the Russians to pledge a new “moonshot”, led by vice-president Joe Biden at “mission control”, for the United States to win a new global health race and find a cure for cancer.
	6.11 Patients
David Bowie, 1947-2016: David Bowie Allowed His Art to Deliver a Final Message [NY Times] Mr. van Hove said that Mr. Bowie told him he was sick in November 2014, via Skype, when the show was in its early stages, but requested the information remain strictly confidential. (The director said in a Dutch radio interview on Monday that Mr. Bowie had liver cancer.)