Onco Actu du 3 juin 2016

	1. Biologie
New CRISPR system for targeting RNA [MIT News] Scientists program C2c2, discovered in bacteria as a viral defense mechanism, to manipulate cellular RNA.
RNA-Targeting CRISPR [The Scientist] “If C2c2 can be engineered such that the RNA cleaving activity is specific and no collateral RNA molecules are targeted, then this new tool could provide a much faster way of knocking down gene products over CRISPR interference or CRISPR nuclease which both act at the DNA level.”
	2. Etiologie
Talc linked to ovarian cancer risk in African-American women [Reuters] Schildkraut, an epidemiologist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, had been skeptical of a long-debated connection between genital talc and the deadly gynecologic cancer. But her new study, in concert with other recent research, convinced her to advise women to avoid using talcum powder.
	4.10 Dép., diag. & prono. - Poumon
Risk Profiling May Improve Lung Cancer Screening [National Cancer Institute] The study authors cautioned that their estimates are based on statistical models rather than on observed outcomes. The models involve certain assumptions about implementation of the risk-based screening strategy, and more research would be needed to determine the most effective way to implement the strategy, they wrote.
	5. Traitements
Could statins prevent breast cancer returning? [NHS Choices] While this may be an important discovery, and could hopefully pave the way to more targeted treatments, the research has so far only been performed in cells in the lab.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Assessing the Gold Standard — Lessons from the History of RCTs [NEJM] We find ourselves at a crucial point in the history of RCTs. Originally designed to reduce bias in research, RCTs have become sites of conflicting interests that merit careful scrutiny.
Errors in the NEJM’s portrayal of Randomized Controlled Trials [Vinay Prasad MD] Most of the criticisms of RCTs made in the article are completely in error. For this reason, the article is a subtle threat to the pursuit of evidence-based medicine and a threat to better decisions for patients. And, precisely because it is subtle, its danger is all the greater.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Research raises hope of a 'Holy Grail' universal cancer vaccine [NHS Choices] While the scientific advances are important and could lead to future treatments, we don't yet know whether this approach is safe, effective or practical in humans.
Let the right ones in – boosting immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer [Cancer Research UK] While Sansom and others continue to unravel these complex issues, there’s a more pressing question. Could combining CXCR2 drugs with checkpoint inhibitors help make immunotherapy work for pancreatic cancer patients?
Scientists 'tear down' pancreatic cancer defences in trial [The Telegraph] Dr Jennifer Morton, lead researcher of the study, which is published in Cancer Cell, said: “One of the most striking effects of blocking CXCR2 was the rush of T-cells into the tumour."
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T
Kite Pharma and Cell Design Labs Announce Exclusive Research Collaboration Using Molecular ‘On/Off Switches' for CAR T-Cell Immunotherapies [KITE] Cell Design Labs' Reversible ‘On/Off Switch' Technology Provides Dynamic Range of Control to Precisely Regulate Activity of Engineered CAR T-Cells.
	5.2 Pharma
Are Things Getting Any Better in the Clinic? [In the Pipeline] Here’s an updated look at clinical success rates in the biotech industry, from the BIO industry organization. They’re looking at only company-sponsored programs aimed at FDA registration, nothing investigator-sponsored, and it’s a big data set.
A Decade of Innovation in Cancer 2006-2016 [Phrma] This report examines several types of cancer where significant advances over the last decade have improved outcomes for patients and are opening doors to new avenues of research.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
Science, not public opinion, should rule FDA drug approvals [STAT] I understand Senator Rubio’s desire to advocate for drugs for rare diseases. But he ought to leave the complexities of drug evaluation and review to experienced FDA scientists.
Statement from FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D. on the release of the final individual patient expanded access form [FDA] The FDA has a long history of supporting patient access to investigational treatments and we hope the information released today will help health care professionals, patients, and industry to more easily navigate the expanded access process and help patients who qualify to gain access to potentially life-saving investigational treatments.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
We’re spending $107 billion on cancer drugs, but is it worth it? [Washington Post] The IMS report shows that, although the savings when drugs lose their exclusivity has been considerable, it has been counteracted by the price increases on existing drugs.
Sharp rise in cancer drug spending forecast, but access remains a problem [STAT] Of the drugs approved in 2014 and 2015, only the US, France, and Scotland have more than half included on reimbursement lists at the end of 2015, according to IMS.
Global Oncology Trend Report a Review of 2015 and Outlook to 2020 [IMS Health] In this report, we share our updated perspective on some of the trends we have observed in 2015, including new treatment options, availability of cancer treatments, costs of oncology therapeutics and supportive care drugs, distribution of cancer drugs, and some of the dynamics that are specific to the U.S. as well as an outlook to 2020.
	5.5 ASCO
Thomson Reuters Launches New Precision Medicine Intelligence [PR Newswire] New Solution Provides a Curated Insight into Patient Genomics. The announcement was made today at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
	5.5.1 ASCO (général)
EORTC Presentations at ASCO 2016 in Chicago [EORTC] Two abstracts will be presented in Oral Abstract Sessions, nine in General Poster Sessions and one publication.
	5.5.1.1 ASCO (général) - Industriels
Immunomedics Breast Cancer Drug Kicked Out of Prestigious ASCO Cancer Conference [The Street] Immunomedics was caught trying to sneak old, previously presented clinical data on its triple-negative breast cancer drug IMMU-132 into the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.
	5.5.13 ASCO (divers)
Why Cancer Patients And Doctors Should Rethink The Value Of Phase 1 Trials [Forbes] Of all the reports being presented at this year’s big cancer meeting, the one I think most important is not about a particular drug or malignancy. It’s about the design of clinical trials.
	5.5.4 ASCO (immunothérapies)
Promising drugs stoke talk of eventual cancer 'cure' [Reuters] Talking about recent progress against melanoma, the first cancer to be targeted by immunotherapy, Dr Daniel Hayes, incoming ASCO president, summed up the cautious shift: "It makes us wonder if we can use the word "cure.'"
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Risks of X-rays for cancer diagnosis may be a mystery to most patients [Reuters] Researchers analyzed survey data from more than 5,400 people who had diagnostic imaging at a comprehensive cancer center to see how much these patients knew about ionizing radiation, a type of energy that is strong enough to penetrate the body and help create images of internal organs.
Mindfulness program may reduce fear, fatigue for cancer survivors [Reuters] Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction classes, which tend to cost around $200, are widely available at hospitals and privately, as well as through online programs such as the one offered by the University of Massachusetts medical school.
	6.1 Observation
Cancer Survivors: A Growing Population [ACS] New report by the American Cancer Society projects 20 million cancer survivors in the U.S. by 2026.
	6.10 Politiques
California moves closer to requiring drug makers to justify price hikes [STAT] The state Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would mandate companies to disclose any increase in the list price of a medicine by more than 10 percent during any 12-month period. And drug makers would also have to explain price hikes for medicines with a list price of more than $10,000 within 30 days of making such a move.
	6.11 Patients
Well: An Artist Takes On Cancer [NY Times] The poignancy of Mr. Scheuer’s and Ms. Lerner’s images arises from the implacable effect that estranging clinical spaces impose on previously secure domestic places.
	6.5 Médecines alternatives
False “balance” about Stanislaw Burzynski’s cancer quackery rears its ugly head again [Respectful Insolence] Stanislaw Burzynski has had 40 years to prove that his ANPs have anticancer activity. Even given opportunity after opportunity, he’s utterly failed. Tedeschi and Kaplan should realize that, but they didn’t.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
CancerLinQ Launches New and Improved Website [ASCO] The site has been organized to meet the needs of patients, practices, donors, researchers, and the larger oncology community.
	6.9 Controverses
Plan to synthesize human genome elicits mixed response [Nature News & Comment] Some admire project's ambition; others say it hasn't justified its aims.
Plan to Fabricate a Genome Raises Questions on Designer Humans [MIT Technology Review] A proposal by a group of scientists and businesspeople to synthesize a human genome from scratch is attracting sharp criticism for dodging the big ethical questions such a step raises. The proposal, described today in a two-and-a-half-page letter being published in Science, is to string together synthetically made DNA and shape from it a human genome able to power a cell in a dish.