Onco Actu du 1er septembre 2016

	1. Biologie
Widely used brain tumor cell line may not be what researchers thought it was [Retraction Watch] I think that all journals should require a check of cell identity, as several already do. What we say in the paper, however, is that this may not suffice when the “original” cell line is misidentified, as U87MG.
Venerable brain-cancer cell line faces identity crisis [Nature] Samples of the cell line do not match its 50-year-old source ― but how the mix-up occurred is a mystery.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Tumor DNA in Blood May Signal Response to T-Cell Transfer Immunotherapy [NCI] In the study, the researchers analyzed blood samples from 39 patients with advanced melanoma who had received T-cell transfer immunotherapy during clinical trials at NCI in the 2000s.
	5. Traitements
CR UK launches pancreatic cancer trial [Pharma Times] The charity recently said it has tripled investment in pancreatic cancer research - streaming £18 million into the field in the 2015/16 compared to £6 million the prior year - as it strives to tackle rising rates and poor survival.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Phase III study showed Roche’s cancer immunotherapy TECENTRIQ (atezolizumab) helped people with a specific type of lung cancer live significantly longer compared to chemotherapy [Roche] TECENTRIQ showed significant improvement in overall survival for people regardless of their PD-L1 status.
Roche's new-drug strategy buoyed by lung-cancer study [Reuters] Winning broad approval for Tecentriq, designed to help the immune system fight tumors that otherwise evade detection, is central to Roche's strategy of developing new drugs as patent expirations leave its older medicines vulnerable to cheaper biosimilars starting in 2017.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T
As Novartis looks to play catch-up in I/O, it ends cell and gene therapy unit [FierceBiotech] The increasingly widespread concern is that engineered cells are highly unpredictable in how they interact with other drugs--making it tough to incorporate them routinely into what are becoming more elaborate, personalized I/O combination approaches.
Novartis Disbands T Cell Group But Promises To Press Ahead In CAR-T Race [Xconomy] Juno’s Harr declined to speculate on Novartis’s motivations but said the T cell space “requires risk tolerance and is expensive.”
Novartis Dissolves CAR-T Unit, Cutting 120 Positions [Forbes] The question for investors in these companies will be whether Novartis re-shuffle represents a de-emphasis of the importance of future CAR-T treatments for the company, or a competitive advantage for the more focused biotechnology companies. At the very least, it would seem to be an opportunity for Kite and Juno to do some hiring.
Novartis to disband cell & gene therapy unit, 120 jobs to go [Reuters] Basel-based Novartis said the move will not derail its intentions to file CTL019, a chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CART) therapy, for treatment of young people with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia with U.S. and European regulators in 2017.
	5.2 Pharma
Takeda Launches Largest Pharmaceutical Company-Sponsored Global Observational Study of Its Kind in Multiple Myeloma [Takeda]
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Clovis defers Pfizer rucaparib payments to save cash ahead of FDA decision [FierceBiotech] Back in 2011, Pfizer gave the rights to its PARP inhibitor, then known as PF-01367338 (now known as rucaparib), over to Clovis, but picked up equity in the biotech as an upfront license fee, and was also set to receive up to $255 million as a series of milestones payouts, as well as royalties on any product sales.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA,...
FDA to hold long-awaited meeting to review off-label marketing [STAT] After years of anticipation, the US Food and Drug Administration will hold a public, two-day meeting in November to review the extent to which so-called off-label information about medicines may be disseminated to physicians.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
FDA approves Genmab’s ofatumumab for relapsed CLL [European Pharmaceutical Review] Approval for this indication by the FDA is based on results from the Phase III complement study that evaluated ofatumumab in combination with FC versus FC alone in patients with relapsed CLL.
XALKORI® (Crizotinib) Receives Approval In European Union For The Treatment Of Patients With ROS1-Positive Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer [Pfizer] XALKORI is the first and only approved biomarker-driven therapy for ROS1-positive advanced NSCLC in the EU.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Global Cancer Angiogenesis Inhibitor Market Research Report 2016 [ReportsnReports] This report studies Cancer Angiogenesis Inhibitor in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer.
	5.6 ESMO
Exelixis-discovered Compounds To Be Featured in 15 Presentations at the ESMO 2016 Congress [Exelixis] CABOSUN results accepted as late-breaker presentation in oral session on October 8.
	6.1 Observation
New data on cancer treatment to help improve care [Cancer Research UK] We can’t say from this data whether specific patients should or shouldn’t have had different treatments. But it’s obvious that dying so soon after treatment makes it very unlikely someone has had the benefits that might be expected for other patients.
Chemotherapy mortality study could help improve cancer care in England [The Guardian] Almost 1,400 patients with either breast or lung cancer died in England in 2014 within a month of being given chemotherapy, according to a study which suggested they suffered harm rather than benefited from the drug treatment.
	6.9 Controverses
Woman who withheld son's cancer drugs out of pity admits attempted murder [The Guardian] A Massachusetts woman who withheld cancer medication that doctors said could have saved her autistic son’s life was freed on Wednesday after pleading guilty to attempted murder.