Onco Actu du 1er avril 2016

	1. Biologie
New clues identified in childhood cancer syndrome [WUSTL] “This discovery could enable us to better predict how NF1 will affect specific individuals, showing us what problems are likely to develop and how best to address them.”
Episode 5: Everything you thought you knew about the shape of DNA is wrong [STAT] Today, scientists focus on the ways that gene mutations cause diseases like cancer. But totally normal genes can still malfunction if they get folded in the wrong way. It’s possible that the research going on in Dekker’s lab may eventually reveal a hidden world of “folding diseases.”
Blocking Calcium Transfer [National Cancer Institute] “Our studies suggest the existence of completely unexpected new targets for which drugs could be developed to kill cancer cells specifically by targeting calcium release from the ER and calcium uptake by mitochondria.”
	2. Etiologie
Diabetes drug linked to increased bladder cancer risk [NHS Choices] It is important to note that the overall risk of bladder cancer was low. There were 121 cases of bladder cancer for every 10,000 people taking pioglitazone for 10 years, compared to 89 cases for people taking other diabetes drugs.
Common diabetes drug raises risk of developing cancer [The Telegraph] The researchers said that patients should be informed of the risk so that they could choose whether to remain on the drug.
	2.10 Etiologie - Alcool
Worrying gaps in people’s awareness of alcohol and cancer [Cancer Research UK] When our study participants were asked to name health conditions linked to drinking too much alcohol, only 13 per cent mentioned cancer.
9 in 10 don't link alcohol and cancer [Cancer Research UK] The report, produced by researchers at the University of Sheffield, comes ahead of the consultation closing on how well new drinking guidelines proposed by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers in January 2016, are communicated. These drew attention to the link between alcohol and cancer, and highlighted the need for greater public awareness of this risk.
Public awareness of link between alcohol and cancer 'worryingly low' [The Guardian] Only around one in 10 Britons knows that drinking too much can cause cancer, according to new research that has provoked calls for cans and bottles of alcohol to carry health warnings.
	5. Traitements
Making blood vessels ‘leaky’ could help treat children’s brain tumours [Cancer Research UK] If the blood brain barrier prevents chemotherapy drugs reaching brain tumours, why do WNT-medulloblastoma patients respond so well to chemotherapy?
Scientists discover new way to tackle challenging children’s brain tumours [Cancer Research UK] This study shows that a curable type of brain tumour in children – called WNT medulloblastoma – grows ‘leaky’ blood vessels that allow much higher than normal levels of chemotherapy drugs to reach the cancer cells.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
‘We thought we were curing people:’ Hope dims as ovarian cancer therapy fails test [STAT] Gynecological oncologists across the nation had been anxiously awaiting results from a major study of a grueling — but promising — method of delivering chemotherapy to ovarian cancer patients. The results were grim.
Researchers Turn to Canine Clinical Trials to Advance Cancer Therapies [JAMA] Although medicine and veterinary medicine, for the most part, have been viewed as 2 different worlds, with little exchange of information between the two, that is beginning to change.
	5.2 Pharma
Array BioPharma Announces Decision To Discontinue MILO Study In Ovarian Canncer [Array BioPharma] All other ongoing studies of binimetinib, including the Phase 3 COLUMBUS (BRAF-mutant melanoma) and NEMO (NRAS-mutant melanoma) trials, are unaffected.
Immunocore kicks off dose-finding ocular melanoma trial as pivotal study looms into view [FierceBiotech] The trials now underway and looming into view represent an important test for Immunocore, which has landed big deals on the strength of the potential of its bispecific biologic approach that uses a T cell receptor as the targeting system instead of an antibody domain.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
GSK expands graduated approach to patents and intellectual property to widen access to medicines in the world’s poorest countries [GSK] Ahead of today’s meeting of the UN High Level Panel on Access to Medicines, GSK CEO Sir Andrew Witty set out a series of steps designed to help bring innovative GSK medicines to more people living in the world’s poorest countries.
Glaxo widening access to its medicines in poor countries [STAT] Glaxo will no longer seek patent protection in the so-called least-developed countries, which number 48, according to the United Nations, as well as other low-income countries.
GSK to make cancer drugs more accessible in poor countries [Science] Building off a scheme the company has used for its anti-HIV drugs, GSK announced today that it intends to sign agreements about drugs in its cancer portfolio with the “Medicines Patent Pool,” a United Nations-backed organization that helps generic manufacturers license and produce products.
Drugmakers say Japan R&D spending at risk after government forces price cuts [Reuters] Drugmakers such as the Japanese arms of Pfizer Inc and Eli Lilly and Co said the change, which could as much as half the price of popular medication, risks penalizing companies for developing revolutionary drugs like Sovaldi.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
EMA to Continue Parallel Scientific, HTA Advice Following Successful Pilot [RAPS] The goal of EMA's parallel scientific advice pilot was to address those delays by bringing HTA bodies to the table while a sponsor is developing its clinical development plan. That way, sponsors could design their clinical programs to meet both sets of requirements in a more efficient manner.
Early dialogue with regulators and HTA bodies [EMA] The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has published today a report on its pilot on parallel scientific advice with health-technology-assessment (HTA) bodies that finished at the end of March 2016. This initiative that allows developers of new medicines to receive simultaneous feedback on their development plans from both regulators and HTA bodies is being continued.
	5.9 AACR
MINDACT Results Will Be Presented During The AACR Annual Meeting 2016 [EORTC] MINDACT is the first prospective randomised controlled clinical trial of a breast cancer recurrence genomic assay with Level 1A clinical evidence. It is also the first prospective translational research study of this magnitude in breast cancer to report the results of its primary objective.
	6.1 Observation
Longer night fasting tied to reduced breast cancer recurrence [Reuters] Patterson and her colleagues write in JAMA Oncology that while a healthy diet is thought to improve breast cancer outcomes, researchers have mostly focused on what people eat instead of when they eat.
	6.3 Associations
Cancer Research UK appoints new Trustee [Cancer Research UK] Michael Pragnell, Chairman of Cancer Research UK, said: “Alexander Eggermont is a renowned oncologist who brings extensive international experience to the Charity. I am delighted to welcome him to our governing Council and I much look forward to working with him.”
	6.5 Médecines alternatives
Cancer patients do not need or want suggestions for alternative cancer cures [Respectful Insolence] If they want medical advice, they will ask you for it. Do not offer it unsolicited, as it only makes them feel worse about their situation, in essence shaming them for being ill and not fighting “hard enough” or having a “positive enough” attitude while making you feel better about yourself.