Onco Actu du 26 juillet 2017

	1. Biologie
Brain tumour’s faulty genetics uncovered [Cancer Research UK] "The key next steps will be to understand the role and function of the genes described in the study, and whether they could be targeted with treatments."
	4.5 Dép., diag. & prono. - Colorectal
Exact Sciences Again Boosts Sales Projections for Flagship Product [Xconomy] Cologuard earned FDA approval and Medicare coverage in 2014, and the company began selling the test later that year. To date, about 81,000 clinicians have ordered the test, up from about 70,000 at the end of March, Exact says.
	5. Traitements
Breaking the genetic resistance of lung cancer and melanoma – major step in treating some of the hardest to kill cancers [Monash University] For the first time, we’ve demonstrated that solid tumours like melanoma and lung cancers can grow back shortly after therapy, but when they do they are made of genetically diverse sub-groups of malignant cells—and, scarily enough, all of these are resistant to treatment.
Probe Miner: a new resource for objective, large-scale assessment of chemical tools [Institute of Cancer Research] ICR Chief Executive Professor Paul Workman talks about the launch of Probe Miner - the new web resource for objective, large-scale analysis of chemical probes.
	5.12.4 Immunothérapies - Essais
MSD’s Keytruda hits rare snag, floundering in confirmatory trial [Pharmafile] The failure is particularly noteworthy because the FDA had already approved Keytruda for treatment in this indication through the accelerated approval pathway.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Merck faces cancer drugs setback ahead of rival AstraZeneca's landmark trial results [The Telegraph] The news comes ahead of results from AstraZeneca’s much-anticipated Mystic trial for its own combination IO checkpoint therapy for lung cancer patients, with a read-out expected within weeks.
	5.2 Pharma
Onconova eyes 'RASopathy' diseases as new targets for its lead drug [Fierce Biotech] Rigosertib has reached the phase 3 testing stage for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), although its progress through development has not been easy, punctuated with failed clinical trials in MDS and pancreatic cancer and the loss of Baxalta as its commercial partner last year.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Lilly puts two-thirds of midphase cancer pipeline up for sale in major shake-up of R&D priorities [Fierce Biotech] The Big Pharma wants to offload six phase 2 candidates to focus its R&D dollars on a clutch of early to midstage assets it thinks can become the new standard of care.
Celgene Settles Lawsuit Over Improper Promotion of Cancer Drugs [Wall Street Journal] Company didn’t admit liability, denies wrongdoing; settled to avoid uncertainty, expense of protracted litigation.
Celgene to Pay $280 Million to Settle Fraud Suit Over Cancer Drugs [NY Times] Also in 2005, the company received approval to sell Revlimid for a rare cancer, and Ms. Brown’s complaint claims that the company — as it had with Thalomid — marketed it to treat a broader range of cancers. It also pressured doctors to switch Thalomid patients to Revlimid, which is more expensive.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
Adding ‘right to try’ to FDA user fee bill would undermine the agency’s work [STAT] We need the FDA to ensure the effectiveness and safety of new drugs, and right to try undermines this process. And the agency certainly can’t work effectively if it is cut out of the process altogether.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
FDA Grants Full Approval to Blinatumomab for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia [NCI] In the phase III trial, the median overall survival of patients treated with blinatumomab was nearly twice as long as that of patients treated with chemotherapy regimens that are commonly used in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL.
	6.1 Observation
Cancer Rates Higher Among Patients with Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases [Roswell Park Cancer Institute] The researchers found that incidence of lymphoma was 10 times higher among men and 8 times higher among women, and concluded that this excessive lymphoma risk was largely driven by common variable immunodeficiency.
	6.11 Patients
Cancer patients in chemo ward may influence each other's survival [Reuters] Among the patients who were in the ward with others who died within five years of chemo, 72 percent also died within five years. But among patients who encountered another patient who survived for five years or longer, 68 percent died within five years.
	6.12 Ethique
Genes, cells, and biobanks: Yes, there’s still a consent problem [PLoS Biology] From a research perspective, the interest in biobanking continues to intensify. Governments and industry have invested heavily in biobanks, as exemplified by initiatives like the United Kingdom Biobank and United States' Precision Medicine Initiative. But despite this enthusiasm, many profound legal and ethical challenges remain unresolved.
	6.7.1 Bioinformatique
Growth in next-generation sequencing informatics market fueled by big data [European Pharmaceutical Review] Report predicts strong demand from biopharma will encourage NGS informatics providers to deliver customised solutions.
	6.9 Controverses
It will be much harder to call new findings ‘significant’ if this team gets its way [Science] They want researchers to dump the long-standing use of a probability value (p-value) of less than 0.05 as the gold standard for significant results, and replace it with the much stiffer p-value threshold of 0.005.