Onco Actu du 18 avril 2016

	5.12 Immunothérapies
Despite The Glitz, Sean Parker's Cancer Institute Could Be Something Special [Forbes] One of the main reasons comes down to two words: intellectual property. Parker has used his pocketbook to convince six cancer centers (Memorial Sloan Kettering; Stanford; UCLA; UCSF; the University of Pennsylvania; and M.D. Anderson) to pool patents around the work they do for them.
Gene editing technology could help engineer better cancer targeting immune cells [Cancer Research UK] The team wanted to see whether they could get around this problem by only disrupting PD-1 on immune cells that already target cancer cells. To do this they turned to specialised gene editing tools called TALENs, which can be engineered to precisely cut a DNA molecule wherever a researcher wishes.
	5.6.4 ESMO - Poumon
ELCC 2016 News: Osimertinib Combined With Durvalumab in EGFR-mutant Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer [ESMO] Results from exploratory trial of evaluation of combination treatment.
ELCC 2016 News: Updates from CheckMate 063 and 017 Trials Confirm Nivolumab Efficacy in Patients with Advanced Platinum-Refractory Squamous NSCLC [ESMO] Levels of baseline serum cytokines associated with survival in nivolumab-treated patients participating in two trials.
ELCC 2016 News: Novel Durvalumab plus Gefitinitib Shows Promise in EGFR Mutated NSCLC [ESMO] Two regimens tested of concurrently administered durvalumab/gefitinib with and without gefitinib priming.
ELCC 2016 News: Comprehensive Molecular Profiling Shows Disparity Between Primary NSCLC Tumours and Metastases [ESMO] Biomarkers targetable by currently existing agents were also identified.
	5.9.3 AACR - mélanome
First Presentation of Two-Year Overall Survival Data for Opdivo® (nivolumab) in Combination with Yervoy® (ipilimumab) Showed Superior Efficacy Versus Yervoy Alone in Advanced Melanoma [BMS] In the trial, the Opdivo and Yervoy combination regimen demonstrated a two-year overall survival (OS) rate of 69% compared to 53% for Yervoy alone (HR=0.58 [95% CI: 0.31-1.08]) in patients with BRAF wild-type advanced melanoma.
SPF30 Sunscreens Delay Melanoma Incidence in Preclinical Model [AACR] These data suggest that the mouse model can be used to identify new, more effective melanoma-preventing agents.
Five-year Survival Rates For Nivolumab-treated Metastatic Melanoma Patients Much Higher Than Historical Rates [AACR] “The five-year OS in all 107 patients was 34 percent, and OS rates appeared to plateau at around 48 months, which is indicative of long-term benefit in some patients, although more follow-up is needed to fully appreciate the benefit of nivolumab monotherapy.”
Bristol's Opdivo Shows Benefits in Cancer Immunotherapy Trial [Wall Street Journal] The study followed 107 patients who were enrolled in an early trial of the drug, which was approved for melanoma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2014. Thirty-four percent of the participants, all of whom had failed on other drugs, were still alive five years after treatment.
	5.9.5 AACR - T-cell immunothérapies
Kite Cancer Therapy Responses in Solid Tumors Sustained in Trial [Bloomberg] T-cell treatment shrinks tumors in 3 of 14 patients in test.
CD4 T-cell Immunotherapy Targeting MAGE-A3 is Safe, and Shows Early Clinical Responses in Patients with Metastatic Cancer [AACR] To develop CD4 T-cell immunotherapy for each individual patient, Rosenberg’s team first collects T cells from the circulating blood of a patient and isolates CD4 T cells. Next, they genetically modify these T cells using a type of virus called retrovirus that has the gene for the T-cell receptor (TCR) recognizing MAGE-A3. Lastly, they grow the modified T cells in the laboratory in large numbers, and transfer them back to the patient.
AACR – Mage-A3 double-whammy hits Kite [EP Vantage] Given its relevance to Kite Pharma, the NCI’s data on an engineered T-cell receptor against Mage-A3 was a keenly awaited AACR presentation, but when it went live on Sunday researchers could boast of no new responses versus what had been presented last November.
	5.9.7 AACR - divers
New Investigational Targeted Therapeutic, Entrectinib, Shows Early Promise Against a Range of Cancer Types “Our data show that entrectinib, a potent oral inhibitor of TrkA/B/C, ROS1, and ALK proteins, can achieve rapid and durable responses in patients with a range of advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring NTRK1/2/3, ROS1, or ALK gene fusions.”
Seattle Genetics Highlights Novel Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) Technology Advances at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting [Seattle Genetics] Presentations will showcase a new auristatin-based drug-linker as well as several novel linkers that expand Seattle Genetics’ proprietary ADC technology platform and may enable application of previously inaccessible cytotoxic payloads.
Targeted Therapy Shows Continued Promise in Patients Whose Tumors Had NTRK Gene Fusions [AACR] Hong said a limitation of the study is its small size. A phase II basket study of LOXO-101 is underway, and will test the drug in more patients with a wider variety of tumors.
New RAF-targeted Therapeutic Shows Early Promise Against Tumors With BRAF and RAS Mutations [AACR] The new investigational anticancer therapeutic BGB-283, which targets the RAF family of proteins, was safe, tolerable, and showed signs of clinical activity in patients who had a range of types of cancer with mutations in BRAF, KRAS, and NRAS, according to results from a phase I clinical trial.
Low-fat diet linked to better breast cancer survival, but doubts remain [STAT] The study was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting. But keep in mind: The study hasn’t been peer-reviewed. “I am very skeptical,” said John Pierce, a professor and cancer researcher at University of California, San Diego.
Loxo Cancer Drug Targets Gene Mutation With Durable Responses in Early Study [TheStreet] Six patients, all with TRK fusion cancers unresponsive to current therapies, reported tumor shrinkage following treatment with Loxo's drug LOXO-101.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
European Data Protection Authorities Chime in on Privacy Shield [CDT] Overall, as we have said before, a long-term solution requires reform of surveillance laws, both in the US and in several European Member States. That must remain the ultimate objective.
Get Involved [National Cancer Institute] Visit our online platform, Cancer Research Ideas, to submit your best scientific ideas for bringing about a decade’s worth of advances in 5 years, making more therapies available to more patients, and spurring progress in cancer prevention, treatment, and care.
	6.10 Politiques
Why A Woman With Cancer Supports Hillary Clinton For President [Forbes] Not that many presidential candidates–or doctors, for that matter–know how to look at a terminal cancer patient in the eye, remain composed and then speak to them, directly.
	6.11 Patients
Cambridge professor reduced to tears by noisy hospital before death [The Telegraph] Just days before his death on Thursday, Sir David wrote that he had been reduced to tears through exhaustion because he was constantly woken up by noisy staff, lights and loud machinery at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge.
	6.4 Médico-éco
Report Identifies Considerations for Alternative Payment Models for Cancer Care [AACR] The Turning the Tide Against Cancer initiative is a collaboration between the AACR, the Personalized Medicine Coalition, and Feinstein Kean Healthcare to work with members of the cancer community to identify policies that sustain medical innovation while addressing the issue of rising health care costs.
	6.6 Publications
Three HER2-cancer review papers tagged with expressions of concern [Retraction Watch] Though the papers contain errors, the conclusions — about how the HER2 gene serves as a predictive factor for breast cancer, and a target for therapies — remain unchanged, according to the EOC.