Onco Actu du 16 mars 2017

	1.1 Biologie - Gènes
New breast cancer drugs could help more than previously thought [NHS Choices] One question remains about the 20% figure. It's not clear how the researchers selected people to take part in the study. They deliberately selected 22 patients who were known to have BRCA mutations. But we don't know whether the others in the study were randomly selected and representative of all people with breast cancer.
	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
European Chemicals Agency doesn’t classify glyphosate as a carcinogen – Expert Reaction [Science Media Centre] This conclusion is scientifically justified. Both the available long-term studies in rats and mice as well as epidemiological data do not justify the conclusion that glyphosate is carcinogenic or mutagenic.
No cancer risk to using glyphosate weedkiller, says EU watchdog [The Guardian] A classification that glyphosate causes serious eye damage and is toxic to aquatic life will remain in place. The controversy over its health and environmental effects though, looks set to rumble on.
EU chemical agency says weed killer glyphosate not carcinogenic [Reuters] "This conclusion was based both on the human evidence and the weight of the evidence of all the animal studies reviewed," Tim Bowmer, chairman of ECHA's Committee for Risk Assessment, said in an online briefing.
	3.1 Tabac
Indonesia tobacco bill would fire up output despite health fears [Reuters] Indonesia's parliament has proposed a draft law that could lead to a sharp increase in tobacco output in a country that is already a top producer with one of the heaviest rates of smoking in the world.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Biocartis and Merck partnership launch second liquid biopsy assay [European Pharmaceutical Review] This collaboration is aimed at jointly developing and commercialising new liquid biopsy RAS biomarker tests for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The first assay under the collaboration, the Idylla(TM) ctKRAS Mutation Assay (RUO), was launched in December 2016.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Breast cancer and the ballot box: political messages about screening prioritize votes over informed decisions [HealthNewsReview] Did the governor’s latest announcement about tomosynthesis have anything to do with his warning to public relations officers at 55 state agencies that they better start pumping out the news releases?
	5. Traitements
Drug combination delivered by nanoparticles may help in melanoma treatment [Penn State Health] CelePlum-777 combines a special ratio of the drugs Celecoxib, an anti-inflammatory, and Plumbagin, a toxin. By combining the drugs, the cells have difficulty overcoming the effect of having more than one active ingredient.
Finding positive in the negative [Mass. General Hospital] Novel antibody-drug conjugate shows promising results in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Lynparza Phase III SOLO-2 data demonstrate progression-free survival benefit in BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer as maintenance therapy [AstraZeneca] Lynparza reduced risk of disease progression by 70% with an investigator-assessed progression-free survival of 19.1 vs 5.5 months with placebo.
PARP Inhibitors Do It Again [In the Pipeline] So we now know that other PARP compounds can be equally effective, but there may not be such big differences, in the end.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Immunotherapy may help treat kids’ brain tumors, preliminary Stanford study shows [Stanford Medicine] In trials in mice, a therapy developed at Stanford safely and effectively treated five types of pediatric brain tumors, according to new data published today in Science Translational Medicine.
Keytruda's head-to-head against Opdivo rockets meds to Nos. 2 and 3 in ad spending [FiercePharma] The two companies laid out a total of more than $33 million—$17.6 million for Merck's Keytruda and $16 million for BMS' Opdivo—in national TV ad placement buys for February, according to data from real-time TV ad tracker iSpot.tv.
	5.2 Pharma
Biotech's PARP Wars Cool Down [Bloomberg] Analysts think that Tesaro will dominate the market for PARP inhibitors, but that assumption looks less and less certain.
Immunomedics lays out its case for an accelerated OK of IMMU-132 in triple-negative breast cancer [EndPoints] The drug is an antibody-drug conjugate, or armed antibody, designed for precise delivery of SN-38, the active metabolite of irinotecan. As such, it fits comfortably in Seattle Genetics sphere.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Cell Medica raises £60M to push cancer therapies into clinic [FierceBiotech] Lead candidate CMD-003 is made up of autologous EBV-specific T cells that are extracted from a patient’s blood before being activated and expanded. Cell Medica thinks the approach can treat advanced lymphomas with minimal side effects.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
Scott Gottlieb’s fervor for deregulation could harm patients [STAT] Most consumers lack the information or expertise to assess the risks and benefits of drugs and medical devices. Clever marketing could entice some patients to forego using products known to be effective in favor of ones that are less effective and possibly more expensive. Evaluating drugs is not the same as deciding whether one prefers Prego or Ragu.
Faster access to new drugs doesn’t always mean better treatment [The Conversation] When the US is more lenient in its regulatory processes, this creates a dilemma for Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration – our version of the FDA. It also creates issues for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, which advises the government which drugs to subsidise.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
Merck's Keytruda nabs first blood-cancer nod, but rare cancer decision has to wait [FiercePharma] The go-ahead brings Keytruda’s list of approved indications to four, with cHL joining melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and head and neck cancer. An indication that won’t join that list, at least yet? microsatellite instability-high cancer (MSI-H).
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Pembrolizumab for the Treatment of Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma [ESMO] It is indicated in adult and paediatric patients with refractory disease, or those who have relapsed after three or more prior lines of therapy.
FDA Approves Ribociclib as Initial Treatment for Postmenopausal Women with HR-Positive, HER2-Negative Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer [ESMO] CDK4/6 inhibitor is approved in combination with an aromatase inhibitor.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Sticker Shock Forces Thousands Of Cancer Patients To Skip Drugs, Skimp On Treatment [KHN] With new cancer drugs commonly priced at $100,000 a year or more, Krahne’s story is becoming increasingly common. Hundreds of thousands of cancer patients are delaying care, cutting their pills in half or skipping drug treatment entirely, a Kaiser Health News examination shows.
NICE drug expense limit of £20 million could cause treatment delays [Pharmafile] “These changes raise the question of the Government’s pledge to support a life-sciences industry, and send a strong signal that England will not be prioritizing treatments for patients with ultra-rare diseases."
Cancer patients skipping medicines or delaying treatment due to high drug prices [STAT] Stopping drugs like Gleevec could be cutting years from some patients’ lives. Instead of dying in five to seven years, patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who take Gleevec and similar drugs can survive nearly as long as anyone else, and with a good quality of life, Kantarjian said.
NICE gets go-ahead to fast-track more drug approvals [NICE] Patients will benefit from access to the most cost-effective treatments nearly 5 months faster after changes to the NICE drug evaluation process were approved.
New UK drug cost rules leave companies fuming [Reuters] The angry response from both Big Pharma and biotech firms comes despite a concession by government in the latest version of the scheme, which increases the cost threshold for certain drugs for rare diseases from the previously planned level.
Drugs costing 8p a day could be hit by 'devastating' NHS rationing plan [The Telegraph] Under the plans, health officials will be able to delay introducing life-extending treatments for up to three years, after they have been found to be effective.
NHS patients could face wait to access life-saving drugs [The Guardian] The move applies to any drugs that are expected to cost £20m or more in any of the first three years of their rollout across the NHS.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
What Young People Need to Know About Colon Cancer [NY Times] “We don’t want to create a panic, and the frequency in younger adults is still relatively low, but we are seeing an increase,” said Dr. Mark Pochapin, director of gastroenterology at NYU Langone Medical Center, and treasurer of the American College of Gastroenterology. The new data “raise the flag to be vigilant,” Dr. Pochapin said.
	6.10.1 Politiques (USA)
Trump budget calls for slashing biomedical and science research funding [STAT] Trump’s budget proposal, which is slim on details, is just a blueprint; the details will be negotiated with Congress, and top Republicans have already made clear that they’re not on board with all the cuts.
NIH would see huge budget cut under president’s proposal [Washington Post] With few details available in the budget outline, it is unclear what kind of reorganization the administration envisions at NIH, the crown jewel of U.S. biomedical research.
NIH, DOE Office of Science face deep cuts in Trump's first budget [Science] "A $6 billion cut to [NIH] is unacceptable to the scientific community, and should be unacceptable to the American public as well."
FDA fees for product review would more than double under Trump budget [Reuters] Citing a constrained budget environment, the proposed budget said industries that benefit from the FDA's approval "can and should pay for their share."
	6.6 Publications
New Feature Alert! [ORCID] This week, three new features have been launched - removing duplicate iDs (requested by several member organizations as well as users), exporting works to BibTex (requested via our iDeasForum), and the ability to filter search and link wizards for importing works.
Another correction for prominent cancer researcher who’s dodged accusations for decades [Retraction Watch] This is the second correction for Croce in PNAS regarding overlap issues in just the last few weeks—the first was published on March 7 (see here). In both instances, PNAS did not call the textual similarities plagiarism, but the notice details multiple instances of overlap.