Onco Actu du 30 mars 2016

	3.1 Tabac
Smoke without fire: Japan becomes test ground for real tobacco e-cigarette [Reuters] The iQOS is a tobacco stick that is heated just enough to produce an aerosol but not combust. The company is betting the presence of real tobacco will make it more satisfying to smokers than existing e-cigarettes.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
UCLA researcher advances PET imaging technology to improve patient's response to cancer treatment [UCLA] The dCK enzyme plays an integral role in allowing drugs such as Clofarabine, Cytarabine and Fludarabine to treat certain types of leukemia and others like Gemcitabine to treat breast, ovarian, non-small cell lung and pancreatic cancers.
The feds say screening for testicular cancer isn’t necessary. This health advocate is out to prove them wrong [STAT] For such a rare and treatable disease — only about 9,000 American men will develop testicular cancer this year, and fewer than 400 will die from the disease — Elizabeth Platz, a cancer epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, questions whether encouraging screening is a good use of public health resources.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Improved 'liquid biopsy' technique enhances detection of tumor DNA in blood [Stanford Medicine] “We found that our approach allows highly accurate, noninvasive identification of actionable mutations in lung cancer patients and we are hopeful that the technique will be clinically available soon,” said Diehn, who noted that additional clinical studies will be needed to confirm whether iDES-enhanced CAPP-Seq can improve cancer patient outcomes or reduce health-care costs.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Embracing Vice President Biden’s Moonshot Call to Cure Cancer, Johns Hopkins Launches Immunotherapy Center with $125 Million Gift from Michael Bloomberg, Sidney Kimmel and others [Johns Hopkins] Immunotherapy holds the potential to cure and end all forms of cancer.
As Johns Hopkins launches new cancer center, Biden sees a model for his ‘moonshot’ [STAT] One major priority will be figuring out why some patients respond to immunotherapies while others do not — another regular talking point for Biden on his cancer road tour.
Bloomberg, others give $125 million for immunotherapy cancer research [Reuters] Research at the institute will focus on melanoma, colon, pancreatic, urologic, lung, breast and ovarian cancers. One high-profile cancer patient to undergo immunotherapy treatment was former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He began treatment in August for melanoma and said in December that he was cancer free.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T
Baxalta, Medicxi back upstart's work on building a better T cell for immuno-oncology [FierceBiotech] In earlier research work, Kuball and his team have discussed the potential of γδT cell immunobiology for particular targets, including solid tumors and blood cancers. A whole host of adapted T cells, including the reengineered CAR-T class, have been pushed along in the clinic as investigators advance new ways to generate an immune system attack on cancer cells.
	5.2 Pharma
Sanofi poaches AstraZeneca scientist as new research head [Reuters] Sanofi said on Tuesday that Yong-Jun Liu had been appointed as head of research with effect from April 1, reporting to Elias Zerhouni, the group's president of global research and development.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
MD Anderson Cancer Center adds to its growing life science universe with Tesaro deal [FierceBiotech] Waltham, MA-based Tesaro will work with the Institute for Applied Cancer Science (IACS), at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, to discover and develop small-molecule product candidates against undisclosed immuno-oncology targets.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
TREND: Rare disease, cancer drugs will drive pharma M&A’s, growth [Pharmafile] Oncology drugs are expected to hit between $100 billion and $120 billion in sales in 2020, according to IMS. Additionally, a big chunk of the 225 drug approvals over the next five years will be in the oncology segment.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Internists Unveil 7-Point Plan To Deal With High Drug Prices [NPR] The article, being published Tuesday in Annals of Internal Medicine, says that the U.S. is the only country in the 34-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes most advanced economies, that doesn't have any government regulation of drug prices.
	6.10 Politiques
Astellas cancer med Xtandi draws fire as U.S. lawmakers demand a pricing hearing [FiercePharma] Holding a public hearing on Xtandi could be a critical first step in getting the agency to act on pricing.
	6.9 Controverses
Statistical Reform.....or Safe-harbor Treadmill Science? [The Mermaid's Tale] The statistical issues are not the cause. The problem is a combination of the complexity of biological organisms as they have evolved, and the simplicity of human desires to understand (and not to get disease).