Onco Actu du 3 octobre 2016

	1. Biologie
Nobel Prize goes to Japanese scientist for work on key cellular recycling process [STAT] There is no dispute that autophagy is a key cellular process, deserving of a Nobel. But the committee’s decision to award the prize to Ohsumi alone may cause some ripples in the scientific community.
Nobel honors discoveries on how cells eat themselves [Science] "It's very well deserved... He is a prime example of someone who did basic research and discovered a process that otherwise might have stayed hidden for decades."
Medicine Nobel for research on how cells 'eat themselves' [Nature] The word 'autophagy' — from the Greek for 'self-eating' — was coined in 1963 by the Belgian biochemist Christian de Duve, who saw how cells broke down their parts inside a waste-processing sac that he called a lysosome. Biologists now understand that this process is fundamentally important to living cells.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016 Yoshinori Ohsumi [Nobel Prize] Disturbances in the autophagic machinery have also been linked to cancer. Intense research is now ongoing to develop drugs that can target autophagy in various diseases.
	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
Childhood leukaemia probably caused by mystery virus raising hopes for a vaccination [The Telegraph] Prof Alex Elliott, Past-Chairman of Comare, said: “We are now looking at the role of an infection and population movement in the rise in cancer. Leukaemia is likely to be a rare response to a common viral agent, which nobody has identified yet.”
Cancer clusters at nuclear sites 'not linked to radiation' [BBC News] An investigation into clusters of cancer cases around Sellafield and Dounreay nuclear sites has found they were very unlikely to have been caused by radiation exposure.
	3.3 Prévention - Vaccins
Physician Recommendations for HPV Vaccine Can Affect Parents’ Choices [AACR] The researchers conducted national surveys of 1,504 parents of adolescents ages 11-17 and 776 primary care physicians.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Miniature implanted ‘scaffold’ could detect breast cancer spread [Cancer Research UK] The device, which is biodegradable and could last up to two years, was implanted in mice with breast cancer. The tiny implant acts as a ‘scaffold’ and attracts immune cells, creating an environment that draws in spreading cancer cells.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Prostate cancer treatment needs to get more personalized [STAT] The results of the long-awaited ProtecT clinical trial reinforced a growing belief that treating early-state prostate cancer with surgery or radiation therapy may be no more life-saving than monitoring it. There’s more to the story, of course.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
Cancer Research UK, MSD, Verastem collaborate on immunotherapy [Center Watch] MSD, Verastem and Cancer Research UK will trial a new combination of immunotherapy drugs in mesothelioma, non small cell lung and pancreatic cancers. The trial will run through the ECMC network at centers in Edinburgh-Dundee, Southampton, Glasgow, Leicester and Belfast.
	5.2 Pharma
ImmunoGen’s new CEO retrenches, axing 65 staffers and looking to thin pipeline [EndPoints] The biotech is eliminating 65 jobs, or 17% of the workforce Mark Enyedy inherited when he won the job a few months ago. And he wants to license out some “non-core” B-cell lymphoma program, the company’s second-ranked experimental drug IMGN529 and coltuximab ravtansine, as he vows to pursue a “leaner and more agile” company.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
The trans-Atlantic quest to find a winning combination of cancer drugs [Cancer Research UK] The Alliance brings together UK researchers and drug companies from around the world to explore new combinations of cancer drugs. By combining multiple drugs in a single clinical trial, they can test whether or not the combination is better at treating cancer than the standard treatment available.
After patient fatality, Hanmi loses Boehringer, gains Roche in $800M-plus cancer-partner shuffle [FiercePharma] Investors took a dim view of the latest development, and Hanmi shares were on the slide today, falling around 18% as the news of Boehringer's decision sank in.
Following lethal tox report, Boehringer scraps plans for high-speed development, kills $730M Hanmi deal [EndPoints] Korean officials approved olmutinib (HM61713) — an oral, EGFR mutation-specific TKI — in May after a rapid Phase I/II program. And Boehringer used the Korean approval to tout its own plans to hustle along an FDA and EMA application later this year after completing a Phase II trial.
	5.2.2 Pharma - Fusions & Acquisitions
Scoop: Celgene targets a cure for myeloma/lymphoma with $600M EngMab buyout [EndPoints] Celgene has completed a deal to acquire the Swiss biotech EngMab for $600 million, adding a new BCMA-targeting multiple myeloma program to the pipeline.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
$95M mega-round in hand, Elaine Sullivan sets out to build a European oncology player [EndPoints] “What we saw, Arch and ourselves,” adds Sullivan, “was amazing science in Europe that was undercapitalized.” Sullivan is staying purposefully vague right now about the biotech’s plans, but that’s not for lack of strategic thinking.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Drugmakers Point Finger at Middlemen for Rising Drug Prices [Wall Street Journal] Pharmacy-benefit managers and the rebates they command come in for criticism by pharmaceutical executives.
	5.6 ESMO
First phase III data on Roche’s TECENTRIQ (atezolizumab) to feature at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress [Roche] Superiority results from the phase III OAK study comparing Tecentriq® to chemotherapy in a difficult to treat type of lung cancer will be highlighted at the ESMO Presidential Symposium.
New Edition of ESMO/ASCO Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology – Setting Standards for Modern Training [ESMO] The integration of molecular pathology to determine the presence of biomarkers as criteria to select appropriate new therapies is one of the most appreciable novelties now included in the 2016 edition of the GC, making it a fundamental reference for internationally recognized standards for medical oncology training.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
TARGET Initiative Fueling Progress Against Childhood Leukemia [NCI] The Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) initiative is a large, multinational, collaborative effort to conduct comprehensive genomic analyses of select pediatric cancers.
What's Different About Male Breast Cancer? [Forbes] After his breast cancer diagnosis, in 2012, Holmes initially hesitated before telling friends and acquaintances about the condition. He felt embarrassed, and called it “chest cancer.” Now he’s forthcoming, and eager to promote education about male breast cancer.
	6.1 Observation
Breast cancer treatments vary widely in cost and complications [Reuters] In the current study, researchers found the risk of complications with a mastectomy followed by reconstruction was almost twice that of lumpectomy.
	6.11 Patients
We need to talk about side effects [Cancer Rersearch UK] We spoke to two young cancer survivors about the side effects they experienced following treatment, and asked how they think support for teenagers and young adults diagnosed with cancer can be improved.
'Until 20,' A Film About A Young Cancer Patient's End-Of-Life Decisions [Forbes] At one level, this is a true story about a brave young man with osteosarcoma. But it’s more than that. This is a documentary about end-of-life decisions, with details.
	6.7.1 Bioinformatique
Making the modern radiologist obsolete? How machine learning may revolutionize medicine [STAT] In 20 years, radiologists won’t exist in anywhere near their current form. They might look more like cyborgs: supervising algorithms reading thousands of studies per minute and zooming in to inspect and adjudicate ambiguous cases; or they might transform into “diagnosticians” like Dr. House, that go out and have more contact with patients and integrate that into their diagnostic judgments.
	6.7.2 Applis
Dial M for Medicine [Genome Mag] The smartphone is revolutionizing the ways patients engage with doctors and manage their health.
	6.9 Controverses
When science- and evidence-based guidelines conflict with patient wishes: What’s a doc to do? [Science-Based Medicine] Our job is to give the best evidence-based recommendation that will fit in with the patient’s values. However, in this age where we cannot just ignore cost, a very uncomfortable question always rears its ugly head: How much more are we willing to pay to deviate from evidence-based guidelines to accommodate a patient’s values? If physicians and patients together don’t answer that question, we can be sure that third party payers will.