Onco Actu du 28 mars 2017

	1. Biologie
How Randomness Helps Cancer Cells Thrive [Johns Hopkins] "Researchers have understood the importance of epigenetics in driving cancer growth, but the focus has been trying to reverse epigenetic changes to specific genes,” Feinberg says. “We need to readjust and think more broadly about the epigenetic process as a whole.”
A leading science institute finds beauty in the most microscopic of places [STAT] The winners of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research's annual image competition show everyone how beautiful biology can be — no microscope required.
	2.5 Etiologie - Gènes
Largest-ever brain cancer study reveals new secrets to inherited risk [The Institute of Cancer Research] Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, along with colleagues in Europe and the US, led the international study of more than 30,000 people with and without glioma. Their aim was to find sequence changes in DNA among these people passed on from their parents that increase risk of the disease.
	3.5 Prévention - UV
Mothers often take daughters to first tanning salon visit [Reuters] More than half of indoor tanners start before they’re 21 years old, and about one third of them begin before age 18, researchers report in JAMA Dermatology.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
Detecting mutations could lead to earlier liver cancer diagnosis [MIT News] MIT researchers have now developed a way to determine, by sequencing DNA of liver cells, whether those cells have been exposed to aflatoxin. This profile of mutations could be used to predict whether someone has a high risk of developing liver cancer, potentially many years before tumors actually appear.
	4.1 Dép., diag. & prono. - Prostate
MRI use may “change the equation” for prostate cancer screening [EAU] “MRI indeed has great potential to improve prostate cancer diagnosis. Still, we need to note that prostate MRI is a challenging imaging technology with good results depending on the skills of dedicated and well trained experts, which is another parallel shared with mammography."
Scientists report genetic test to help predict men at most risk from aggressive prostate cancer [EAU] This test, reported at the European Association of Urology conference in London, and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, may give men a better view on how to deal with their prostate cancer risk.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
An Evidence Framework for Genetic Testing [National Academies Press] Given the rapid pace in the development of genetic tests and new testing technologies, An Evidence Framework for Genetic Testing seeks to advance the development of an adequate evidence base for genetic tests to improve patient care and treatment. Additionally, this report recommends a framework for decision-making regarding the use of genetic tests in clinical care.
	5. Traitements
Targeted Cancer Drug May Also Help Protect Fertility, Study Suggests [NCI] In the mouse study, researchers from the NYU Langone Medical Center and Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York showed that the targeted agents known as mTOR inhibitors block chemotherapy-induced damage to the ovaries that causes infertility.
Targets: Drugability Revisited [Omics! Omics!] To give an idea of the problem, we've known for something like 30 years now that a huge number of solid tumors, and also some hematologic ones, either have mutations in KRAS or NRAS (or rarely HRAS) or are signalling through these proteins. [...] But KRAS has essentially defied drug discovery, because it is an intracellular protein with few crags on its surface.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Study provides path for new immunotherapy approaches to prostate cancer [MD Anderson] The researchers launched a clinical trial for stage IV prostate cancer in March combining two drugs that target separate brakes on the immune system. The checkpoint inhibitors largely failed individually against the disease. Their results also implicate for the first time on a human tumor a third brake called VISTA in potentially inhibiting immune response.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
Swiss antibody shop Numab strikes an immuno-oncology discovery deal with Japan’s Ono [EndPoints] Japan’s Ono Pharmaceutical turned to Pfäffikon, Switzerland-based Numab — in the Zurich canton — to come up with a new, tailored antibody that could make a good combo with Opdivo, the big checkpoint they are partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb on.
	5.2 Pharma
TESARO Announces Expanded Development Program for Niraparib Focused on the Treatment of Front-Line Metastatic Ovarian and Lung Cancers and Metastatic Breast Cancer [Tesaro] Niraparib in combination with an anti-PD-1 antibody to be developed for front-line, non-small cell lung cancer.
Liver cancer miss adds to litany of trial failures for ArQule's tivantinib [FierceBiotech] The serially failing drug missed its primary target in the phase 3 JET-HCC trial run by Japanese licensee Kyowa Hakko involving patients with a form of liver cancer known as hepatocellular carcinoma HCC) who had previously been treated with Bayer's Nexavar (sorafenib).
MELK Is Not A Cancer Target. Surprise! [In the Pipeline] So at the very least, MELK monotherapy doesn’t look promising. But hey, the compound in the clinic isn’t a MELK monotherapy agent anyway, so it has that going for it. This is an embarrassing situation for OncoTherapy Science.
Erytech Reports Positive Phase 2B Data for Eryaspase for the Treatment of Metastatic Pancreactic Cancer [Erytech] Prof Pascal Hammel, MD, PhD, gastroenterologist-oncologist at Beaujon Hospital in Paris and principal investigator of the study, commented: “ The results of this study support eryaspase as a potential treatment option for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer in the second-line setting.”
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
Tesaro puts AstraZeneca on notice with early FDA nod for Lynparza rival niraparib [FiercePharma] Tesaro also said Monday that it plans to expand its research program for niraparib, with combination approaches alongside Roche’s Avastin and a PD-1 immunotherapy, expanded efforts in first-line ovarian cancer, and a move into first-line metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
Tesaro Announces U.S. FDA Approval of Zejula (niraparib) for Women with Recurrent Ovarian Cancer [Tesaro] Use of ZEJULA does not require patient selection with a biomarker test.
Tesaro’s Ovarian Cancer Drug Gets FDA Nod, No Diagnostic Needed [Xconomy] According to Tesaro, two-thirds of the women in the study did not carry BRCA mutations; in those patients, niraparib reduced by 55 percent the risk of death or that their cancer would get worse. In the women who carried the mutations, niraparib reduced the risk of death or cancer progression by 74 percent.
Tesaro Secures Early and Broad Approval for PARP Inhibitor in Ovarian Cancer [The Street] The new Tesaro drug, to be marketed under the brand name Zejula, was granted a broad treatment label by the FDA, including patients with ovarian cancer containing a mutation to a tumor suppressor gene known as BRCA, as well as patients who lack the mutation.
FDA OKs Tesaro’s niraparib for ovarian cancer, handing the biotech a big win on the label [EndPoints] It’s a transformational moment for Tesaro. Its drug was listed by EvaluatePharma as one of the top drugs in the industry’s pipeline this year, with peak sales expectations hovering close to $2 billion a year. And its stock climbed about 6% in after-market trading.
FDA approves maintenance treatment for recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancers [FDA] The safety and efficacy of Zejula were studied in a randomized trial of 553 patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer, who had received at least two prior treatments of platinum-based chemotherapy and who had experienced a complete or partial response to their most recent chemotherapy treatment.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
New budget test puts UK on front line in global drug price fight [Reuters] Carole Longson, director of NICE's center for health technology evaluation, says the onus is on drugmakers to price medicines responsibly.
	6.10.1 Politiques (USA)
Playing no Trump at AAAS policy forum [Science] NIH may be facing the biggest budget cut in anyone’s memory, but Collins sought to reassure the biomedical research community that Trump’s proposed 18% cut in 2018 may never come to pass.
	6.12 Ethique
‘I’m Willing To Try Anything’: Compassionate Use Access To Experimental Drugs And The Misguided Mission Of Right-To-Try Laws [Health Affairs Blog] We believe these Right-To-Try Laws represent a populist, anti-government, anti-regulatory movement, which may be a dangerous, not to mention ineffective, policy trend.
	6.6 Publications
Challenges of Measuring Persistent Identifier (PID) Adoption [ORCID] We are now collecting the data we need to analyze PID adoption in X disciplines and Y countries – a full report will be available later this year.
How Elsevier plans to sabotage Open Access [Medium] It was a long and difficult road to get the major publishing houses to open up to open access, but in the end the Dutch universities got their much awaited ‘gold deal’ for open access. A recently revealed contract between Elsevier and the Dutch research institutes lays bare the retardant tactics the publishing giant employs to stifle the growth of open access.
	6.9 Controverses
Soon-Shiong’s promotion of ‘breakthrough’ cancer therapy raises questions [STAT] Billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong retweeted the video several times in recent days, amid a flurry of social media posts in which he vowed to “solve” cancer. But where the ordinary viewer might see an inspirational story, drug industry experts saw a likely violation of federal regulations.