Onco Actu du 13 février 2017

	1. Biologie
Scientists identify aggressive pancreatic cancer cells and their vulnerability [MD Anderson] Preclinical findings show how tumors exploit cellular plasticity to change into resistant type.
	3.1.1 Tabac - e-cigs
Australia’s looming e-cigarette ban robs smokers of a chance to quit [The Conversation] The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) recent interim decision to effectively ban nicotine-containing e-cigarettes is a harsh blow to smokers.
Kids who live with e-cigarette users may think smoking is okay [Reuters] “When kids think that something is normal or acceptable, they are more likely to try it. This study found that exposure to electronic cigarettes makes smoking to be perceived as normal, which makes children more likely to give it a try and start down the road to lifelong addiction.”
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
Pancreatic cancer biomarker bolsters nanoparticle-based diagnostic [C&EN] Speedy sensor detects vesicles released by tumors in tiny drops of blood.
‘Magic’ blood test could make bone marrow transplants for blood cancer safer [Cancer Research UK] For this latest study, researchers from 11 cancer centres in the US and Europe looked at blood samples from almost 1,300 bone marrow transplant patients to see if they could predict whether a patient will develop GVHD, and also their outlook.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Women Who Have A False Positive Screening Mammogram More Likely to Delay Next Screen [AACR] For this study, Dabbous and colleagues obtained data for women who received mammography screening through a large health care organization with multiple facilities in the greater metropolitan Chicago area. Among the 741,150 screening mammograms from 261,767 women included in the analysis were 12.3 percent that yielded a false positive result; the remaining 87.7 percent yielded true negative results.
	5. Traitements
Three-Drug Combination Extends Survival for Patients with Multiple Myeloma [NCI] These studies suggest that the particular combination of a proteasome inhibitor (like bortezomib or carfilzomib), an immunomodulating agent (like lenalidomide) and a steroid (like dexamethasone) may have enhanced activity against multiple myeloma, said Dr. Kazandjian.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Researchers Publish Roadmap to Precision Oncology [Memorial Sloan Kettering] Appearing in the special cancer-focused February 9 issue of Cell, the article — “Implementing Genome-Driven Oncology” — presents a critically self-reflective but solutions-focused perspective on this approach to cancer treatment.
How to stop brain cancer—with rabies [Science] Still uncertain is just how the nanoparticles reached the tumor cells. Youn says they likely traveled the same path as the rabies virus—through the central nervous system.
Amid flurry of new cancer drugs, how many offer real benefits? [CNN] "We are very concerned about the push to get more drugs approved, instead of effective drugs approved," said Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, who said the last game-changing breast cancer drug, Herceptin, was approved nearly 20 years ago.
Last Month in Oncology with Dr. Bishal Gyawali: January 2017 [ecancernews] If long-term access to patients from LMICs is denied, the ethics of conducting such studies in LMICs should be questioned.
New method reduces adverse effects of rectal cancer treatment [Karolinska Institutet] A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that short-course preoperative radiotherapy combined with delayed surgery reduces the adverse side-effects of rectal cancer surgery without compromising its efficacy. The results are presented in the journal The Lancet Oncology.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Tracon slips as brain cancer trial misses the mark [FierceBiotech] Investors were not optimistic about the prospects for the program, however, and shares in Tracon were down 13% in after-hours trading.
TRACON Pharmaceuticals Announces Top-line Results from NCI-Sponsored Phase 2 Trial of TRC105 in Recurrent Glioblastoma [Tracon] Combination of TRC105 and Avastin did not improve the median progression free survival versus single agent Avastin in recurrent glioblastoma patients. Combination was associated with a non-significant increase in overall survival.
	5.12.3 Immunothérapies-combinaisons
Afatinib to be evaluated in combination with PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab in new trial for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung [Boehringer Ingelheim] Afatinib is approved in patients with advanced SqCC of the lung whose disease has progressed after treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy and in patients with specific types of EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Playing catch-up, Regeneron and Sanofi push ahead on pivotal PD-1 cancer studies [EndPoints] Analysts see little to distinguish this PD-1 from the rest of the checkpoint field. But the next step in I/O involves a slew of combination therapies that will look to change the landscape on frontline therapies.
	5.2 Pharma
Will pharma use a tax break to create new jobs? That’s not what happened last time [STAT] In the end, the 2004 tax holiday cost the US government $3.3 billion in lost revenue and did nothing to increase employment or investment in research, according to a Senate report.
	5.2.2 Pharma - Fusions & Acquisitions
Cancer drugmaker Tesaro weighs its options as wannabe buyers come running [FiercePharma] The buyer interest is no surprise, considering the prices Big Pharma has paid over the last couple years to add drugs in the fast-growing cancer field.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Seattle Genetics pens $2B pact to bag Immunomedics’ drug [FierceBiotech] Seattle Genetics was one of 33 parties to receive detailed due diligence information on IMMU-132. Several parties got as far as submitting term sheets, but Seattle Genetics, which Immunomedics said “moved aggressively”, was the first to get an offer accepted.
Seattle Genetics Puts Up $250M for Immunomedics Cancer Drug Rights [Xconomy] It’s not clear whether anyone else will step in with a better offer. Immunomedics has been shopping itself and its drug for some time without finding any takers.
Seattle Genetics Announces Global License Agreement with Immunomedics for Sacituzumab Govitecan (IMMU-132), a Promising Late-Stage ADC for Solid Tumors [Seattle Genetics] Sacituzumab govitecan is in a phase 1/2 trial for patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), as well as multiple other solid tumors.
Seattle Genetics grabs Immunomedics’ tumor drug in $2B deal, shooting for a quick OK [EndPoints] IMMU-132 (sacituzumab govitecan) fits squarely in Seattle Genetics’ comfort zone. It is an armed antibody that contains SN-38, the active metabolite of irinotecan, designed for precise delivery to avoid off-target toxicity.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
What if, rather than being too stringent about drug approval, the FDA is not being stringent enough? [Respectful Insolence] If the preclinical evidence requirements for efficacy are already too low, then lowering the clinical requirements for efficacy (e.g., by approving drugs based only on biomarker changes) will be an even bigger disaster than I thought before, because more ineffective drugs would be approved.
Often Advocates Of Faster FDA, Patient Groups Wary Of Trump Deregulation [Xconomy] “While this current climate of deregulation may seem popular, the potential harm and risk for patients is too great when considering our past and the important part the FDA plays in patient safety.”
WHO director issues thinly veiled rebuke of FDA critics [STAT] Speaking at a conference in Seattle on Wednesday, Dr. Margaret Chan warned against loosening the rules governing the safety and effectiveness data that drug companies must supply to win marketing approval from the FDA.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
Over 1,000 studies now recorded in EU register of post-authorisation studies [EMA] EU PAS Register increases transparency of research in medicines after they have been authorised in the EU.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
A Call For Academic Drug Companies [In the Pipeline] After concluding that large drug companies are inefficient because they’re large, and small drug companies are inefficient because they’re small (no, really, that’s pretty much how the article goes), the authors then propose to do drug discovery and development without drug companies at all.
Cancer drug prices must come down, say leading research institutes [The Guardian] Top UK and US scientists say high cost for medicines is indefensible as they propose cheaper way to develop them.
Academics call time on $100,000 cancer drugs [Reuters] Writing in the journal Cell on Thursday, European and U.S. experts laid out a blueprint for reining in costs by increasing the role of academic research groups, working alongside new kinds of private companies, in the development of new drugs.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
NHS cancer treatment target in England missed for third consecutive year [Cancer Research UK] This failure means that more than 70,000 people in the last 3 years have waited longer than the 62 day target to start treatment.
	6.1 Observation
Children’s cancer survival continues to increase [Cancer Research UK] Fewer than 7 in 10 children diagnosed with cancer in 1990 survived for at least 5 years. But new figures from the Office of National Statistics estimate this to be more than 8 in 10 for those diagnosed in 2015.
	6.10 Politiques
Cancer drugs may be delayed after Brexit, say experts [BBC News] Sir Alasdair - who was the chairman of the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for almost a decade - said companies could be slower to seek permission for Britain alone, as they may need to pay for a separate assessment of their product for use in the country.
	6.11 Patients
The day two men talking about cancer on the radio made the nation stop [The Guardian] “The main thing I wasn’t ready for was the reaction of listeners,” says Hewlett. “I wanted to open myself up, to talk about what has been happening, but I didn’t imagine people would get as much from it as they have."
	6.3 Associations/Fondations
Cancer Research UK announces inaugural Grand Challenge teams to answer the biggest questions in cancer [Cancer Research UK] Cancer Research UK set up Grand Challenge in 2015 and committed up to £100m to this new approach to help increase the pace of research.
3 of the toughest questions in cancer and more than £70 million to solve them [Cancer Research UK] Originally, the plan was to fund 1 team. But the quality of the shortlisted teams led the panel to recommend we fund 4, which we’re announcing today.
U.K. cancer charity awards £71 million for four major research challenges [Science] The objective is to find “really novel ways” to address “urgent problems,” said Cancer Research UK CEO Harpal Kumar in a press briefing yesterday. He called the grants “the biggest … we or anyone else has ever given.”
	6.6 Publications
Draft display guidelines for iDs in articles open for comment [ORCID blogs] The draft guidelines set three clear goals: to help promote the use of ORCID iDs by authors by increasing visibility in the publishing process; to provide clear display options to support consistency in implementation and use; and to provide criteria so publishers can assess display effectiveness.
	6.8 Communication
A ‘trick’ to finding breast cancer goes viral on Facebook–here’s what was missing from the message [healthNewsReview] This was a missed opportunity to provide context because in reality the evidence doesn’t support regular breast self-exams as being useful (which goes against what many women are told every day from their doctors), and there are other, important things women should know about breast cancer prevention.
	6.9 Controverses
Dana-Farber must rethink its decision to keep its fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago [STAT] In these unprecedented political times, remaining apolitical is not an option. The citizens and institutions of this nation can either speak out against the discriminatory policies of the President or stay silent and let them become part of the fabric of our society.