Onco Actu du 21 juin 2016

	3.1 Tabac
Well: No Such Thing as a Healthy Smoker [NY Times] Smokers who think they are escaping the lung-damaging effects of inhaled tobacco smoke may have to think again, according to the findings of two major new studies, one of which the author originally titled “Myth of the Healthy Smoker.”
	3.4 Chimioprévention
'Holy grail' of preventing breast cancer is in sight, say scientists [The Telegraph] If confirmed in upcoming clinical studies, the drug would provide a non-surgical option to prevent breast cancer in women with elevated genetic risk.
Breast cancer cell growth halted by osteoporosis drug, study shows [The Guardian] Researchers found that the osteoporosis drug, denosumab, can halt the growth of cells which give rise to breast tumours in women whose risk of the disease is greater because of mutations in a gene called BRCA1.
	4.10 Dép., diag. & prono. - FDA, EMA, NICE,...
How Califf sees FDA's role in the Precision Medicine Initiative [BioCentury.com] Of course there is a lot of unpredictability that we'll have to work through, but if we have to use the old system of test development and validation with NGS it would take decades and we are not interested in that.
	4.11 Dép., diag. & prono. - Ovaire
The ROCA Screening Test for Ovarian Cancer: Not Ready for Prime Time [Science-Based Medicine] Ovarian cancer screening is being re-considered in the light of a recent study, the UKCTOCS trial, published in The Lancet in December 2015. On the basis of that study, a test called ROCA is being offered directly to the public for $295. It’s important to understand what the study actually found, and why experts have questioned the wisdom of offering this test to the public at this time.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Sean Parker To Fund CRISPR Trial, And Other Gene Edit Milestones [Xconomy] If the review board gives a thumbs-up, it’s not clear when a Phase 1 trial would begin. The plan is to collect T cells from cancer patients, use CRISPR-Cas9 to snip out two genes from those cells to make them better cancer fighters, then put them back into the patients’ bodies.
Money Behind First CRISPR Test? It’s from Internet Billionaire Sean Parker [MIT Technology Review] The novel cancer treatment, initially disclosed last week, is being reviewed Tuesday by a federal advisory panel in Washington, D.C., and could become the first clinical trial involving CRISPR, the red-hot gene modification technology. Now we can report that Parker, a 36-year-old whose net worth is estimated at $2.4 billion, is financing the study.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Kite Pharma Expands Development of T-Cell Receptor (TCR) Therapies Targeting HPV-Associated Cancers in Partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) [KITE)] Under the CRADA, NCI will evaluate a novel TCR therapy candidate targeting HPV-16 E7 as a monotherapy and in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in HPV-16 associated solid tumors.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
June 28-29, 2016: Meeting of the Pediatric Subcommittee of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee [FDA] The products under consideration are: (1) venetoclax, presentation by AbbVie, Inc. (2) tazemetostat, presentation by Epizyme, Inc., and (3) atezolizumab, presentation by Roche/Genentech.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
NIH rejects petition to override patent on pricey prostate cancer drug [STAT] Last January, the groups petitioned the NIH to take this step, which is known as a march-in right, to help US patients because federally funded research was used to create Xtandi. The drug is sold by Astellas Pharma and has an average wholesale price in the United States of more than $129,000, about two to four times more than what other high-income countries are paying, according to the consumer groups.
Government Appropriation Of Breakthrough Drug Patent Rights Would Deter Biopharmaceutical R&D And Innovation [Health Affairs] While it can be challenging for government programs such as Medicaid to fund breakthrough drugs for large patient populations, a number of policies can be employed to encourage their more optimal utilization without curtailing the inventors’ patent rights and discouraging future R&D investments.
A Market-Based Proposal For Controlling Drug Prices [Forbes] My inspiration here is the GAVI Alliance, a foundation initially set up with the help of Bill Gates to get vaccines to kids in the developing world. It’s successfully driven down the price of vaccines by promising drug companies a market that covers their costs and has volume guarantees. The problem here is different, because the U.S. drug market is about profit, not charity. But the missing component is still aggregate buying power.
	5.5 ASCO
A Novel, Targeted Drug Yields Promising Results In Stomach And Esophageal Cancer [Forbes] Of all the experimental anti-cancer drugs considered at the recent ASCO meeting, one caught my attention. It’s a monoclonal antibody that binds Claudin-18.2, a protein abundantly present in a subset of gastric, esophageal, pancreatic, bile duct and other tumor types. The claudin molecule also appears in some lung and mucinous ovarian cancers, and represents a target for novel treatment.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
From VHIO´s Director and WIN Symposium Chair: Josep Tabernero´s Paris Preview [Vall d'Hebron Institute Oncology] As Chair of the 2016 annual two-day WIN (Worldwide Innovative Network) Symposium: Innovative Approaches to Improve Cancer Patient Outcomes, to be held 27 – 28 June in Paris, I can promise an exceptional program that will center on and around six plenary sessions.
	6.1 Observation
Could going to college or being married give you brain cancer? [STAT] Being married or educated seems linked to being diagnosed with some kinds of brain tumor, likely because of socioeconomic rather than biological differences — a useful reminder that when studies count diagnoses they’re not necessarily counting every case.
	6.10 Politiques
Supreme Court’s ruling in patent case a blow to drug industry [STAT] At issue in the case was a new process for challenging patents created by Congress in 2011. Known as inter partes review, they allowed patent challenges to be heard by an appeals board within the US Patent and Trademark Office.
	6.11 Patients
Cancer patients get a rare chance to thank their transplant donors [STAT] Be The Match lets patients thank donors directly, with one catch — for at least the first year, communication must be anonymous. Writers are forbidden from using any part of their name, their pet’s name, or even a geographical clue like, “go Red Sox.”
	6.4 Médico-éco
Prostate cancer trial results should mean fewer hospital trips to have radiotherapy [Cancer Research UK - Science blog] The results, published in full today, should change clinical practice. But there’s a catch: to allow all men who need it to benefit, the NHS needs to invest substantially in new radiotherapy machines – something we’re pressing the Government to do.
Hard-and-fast prostate radiotherapy 'a win-win for NHS' [BBC News] For a patient, the new regime would mean 17 fewer trips to hospital. Nationally, it would free more than 150,000 visits, saving the NHS tens of millions of pounds each year.
Change to prostate cancer treatment could save millions of pounds [The Guardian] The study involving more than 3,200 patients compared a 20-session course of “intensity-modulated radiation therapy” (IMRT) – which closely customises treatment to an individual patient – with the current standard 37 sessions.
	6.5 Médecines alternatives
Easing a patient’s pain — even without proof it works [Boston Globe] Dana-Farber is embarking on its largest expansion yet of unconventional therapies. Over the past year, it has taken the unusual step of offering reiki, an ancient Asian technique, and foot reflexology free of charge to adults and children — as well as acupuncture to adults — in its outpatient infusion clinics during chemotherapy treatments.
	6.6 Publications
Seventh retraction appears for cancer researcher who sued PubPeer commenters [Retraction Watch] The two retractions appear in the Journal of Cellular Physiology, and follow five others released last week by another Wiley journal, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. All notices mention an investigation at Wayne State University, where Sarkar is on the faculty.