Onco Actu du 14 décembre 2016

	1. Biologie
Mystery molecule is a key to inhibiting colon cancer [St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital] St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists tracking the protective role of the protein called NLRC3 have discovered multiple targets for drugs to switch on the cell’s machinery to thwart colon cancer.
Piecing together breast cancers’ immune cell composition [Cancer Research UK] By looking at samples from different types of breast cancer, Caldas and his team uncovered a potential link between the immune cells that were present and how well women responded to chemotherapy.
Single Tumor Cells Reveal Clues to Biology of Multiple Myeloma [NCI] “This study demonstrates that we can get extraordinarily detailed genetic information from circulating tumor cells even if these cells occur at low frequencies in the blood.”
	3.1 Tabac
Study Finds No Safe Level of Smoking [NIH's Director Blog] As published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the latest analysis included more than 290,000 seniors who answered a survey conducted from 2004 to 2005. The participants, divided up about evenly between men and women, included approximately 111,000 never smokers, 156,000 former smokers, and 22,000 current smokers.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Blood test could provide cheaper, better way for doctors to manage lung cancer [Stanford Medicine] The researchers created a system for isolating circulating tumor cells from the blood of cancer patients and reading a handful of genes from inside each tumor cell. Thus, they were able to obtain genetic information about the original cancer tumor that resides deep in the lungs without doing a biopsy, which can be dangerous for the patient.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Personal-genome cancer-risk profile may not inspire lifestyle changes [Reuters] For the most part, people with elevated cancer genetic risk scores were not significantly more likely to make these changes than participants who received average or reduced risk estimates.
	5. Traitements
New X-ray technique could improve bomb detection and breast cancer treatment [ESPRC] The technique at the heart of the advance is called phase-contrast X-ray imaging. Instead of measuring the extent to which tissue or materials absorb radiation - as in conventional X-ray imaging - it measures the physical effect that passing through different types of tissue or material has on the speed of the X-ray itself.
Rub-on cream for skin cancer nearly as effective as surgery, five year trial shows [The Telegraph] The five-year study showed that if imiquimod treatment is successful in the first year, BCC reoccurrence is unlikely.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Immunotherapy drug extends lives of advanced lung cancer patients [Cancer Research UK] Patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer survived for 13.8 months on average when treated with the drug – called atezolizumab (Tecentriq) – compared to those treated with standard chemotherapy, who survived for 9.6 months on average.
Algorithms compete to predict recipe for cancer vaccine [Nature] One approach is to use algorithms to predict which bits of a mutated protein might be seen by a T cell. These work by analysing where the proteins could be cleaved, for example, and which of the resulting fragments will bind tightly to the molecules that put them on display. But each laboratory has a different “secret sauce”.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
Pfizer joins rush to cancer vaccine R&D, backing startup Ignite [FierceBiotech] For Pfizer, the play in oncolytics comes as its key vaccine offering, Prevnar 13, struggles to post the kind of growth numbers that boosted the company’s vax unit last year.
Kite Pharma and Vitruvian Networks Enter Strategic Partnership to Develop Best-In-Class Logistics and Data Analytics Software for Engineered T-cell Therapies at Commercial Scale [Kite] The collaboration brings together complementary capabilities from each company, including Kite's clinical development, manufacturing, supply chain and commercial leadership in engineered T-cell therapy and Vitruvian's hybrid expertise in building cloud-based software and data analytics solutions in cell and gene therapy manufacturing and delivery settings.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Not Fun Reading [In the Pipeline] Gosh, where are all those drugs that we were assured a few years ago could be (in fact, were) developed for only $43 million or so? That would provide you with returns you could write home about, but it’s almost as if that figure is completely wrong or something.
Measuring the return from pharmaceutical innovation 2016 [Deloittte] There is a negative correlation between the size of the company and both predicted returns, and cost per product. Lessons can be learned from smaller companies—as they are able to achieve higher R&D productivity.
Big Pharma’s woeful numbers on drug R&D just got even worse [EndPoints] “With pharma R&D returns continuing to fall, our analysis shows that the current model is not sustainable. What is clear is that fundamental change may no longer be an option, but a necessity for the industry.”
As drug approvals dive in 2016, returns on R&D deteriorate [Reuters] "As costs per product remain high, sales projections decline, and given it now takes the industry over 14 years to launch a drug, real questions should be raised about productivity and returns on innovation."
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
EMA hosts workshop on adaptive pathways [EMA] Broad range of stakeholder questions addressed.
The President Signs 21st Century Cures into Law; Highlights of Drug and Biologic Related Provisions (Part One) [FDA Law Blog] The Act contains three primary titles that address acceleration of medical product discovery, development, and delivery. This post is part one of a two-part post that summarizes the relevant provisions related to development of drugs and biologics.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
European Commission Grants Marketing Authorization for Arzerra® (ofatumumab) in combination with Fludarabine and Cyclophosphamide in Relapsed CLL [Genmab] Approval based on data from Phase III COMPLEMENT 2 study.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
We Need To Tame The Price Of New Cancer Drugs [Forbes] The main problem with the DrugAbacus, which applies also to ASCO’s published value framework, is the input of inaccurate or incomplete information about how well drugs work. My concern is that overall survival and other benefits may be systematically underestimated with this tool, as they’re weighed by what clinical evidence led to first FDA approval.
	5.7 SABCS
SABCS 2016: The Search for an Effective and Safe PI3K-Inhibitor [Cancer Research Catalyst] The side effects from buparlisib treatment, however, are concerning. Patients in the buparlisib arm experienced many adverse events, including a rise in liver enzymes (indicating liver damage) and psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide.
	6.10.1 Politiques (USA)
21st Century Cures Act: Making Progress on Shared Goals for Patients [FDA Voice] Cures will greatly improve FDA’s ability to hire and retain scientific experts. One of our ongoing challenges has been recruiting and retaining the experts we need in specialized areas to allow us to get our work done and meet our growing responsibilities.
The FDA Should Approve Drugs Based on Evidence, Not Emotions [Slate] A new bill and Donald Trump could come together to undermine the FDA’s ability to safeguard the public from dangerous new drugs.
The 21st Century Cures Act — A View from the NIH [NEJM] Congress has provided an enormous gift to science in the form of the Cures Act, a gift that reflects a deep confidence in the promise of biomedical research to make discoveries and develop cures in the 21st century.
It’s the law: Obama signs widely popular 21st Century Cures Act [EndPoints] Now it will have to make sure that no one tampers with those provisions as the new Trump administration goes back and starts to undo that complex piece of legislation.