Onco Actu du 19 octobre 2017

	1. Biologie
Many Pelvic Tumors in Women May Have Common Origin: Fallopian Tubes [NYU Langone Health] The new study found that ovarian cancer cells have more in common with cells covering the tips of fallopian tubes than with those on the surface of ovaries. If biomarkers can be found for these tubal cells, say the authors, future blood tests, advanced Pap smears, or direct tests on tubal tissue might be able to detect ovarian cancer earlier.
	3.1 Prévention - Tabac
Doctors to breathalyse smokers before allowing them NHS surgery [The Guardian] Breath test will ensure Hertfordshire patients have really kicked habit before they are referred for non-urgent operations.
	4.10 Dép., diag. & prono. - FDA, EMA, NICE,...
Myriad's BRACAnalysis CDx® Supplementary PMA Accepted by FDA for Review as a Companion Diagnostic for Lynparza® (olaparib) in Metastatic Breast Cancer [Myriad] Company Expects FDA Priority Review to Conclude in the Fiscal Third-Quarter 2018.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
New targeted drug shows signs of effectiveness in first clinical trial [Institute of Cancer Research] In the trial, 65 patients with a range of different tumour types took gradually escalating doses of an experimental drug called GSK2636771, which blocks a cancer-driving protein called PI3 kinase beta (PI3KB), also known as p110b.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
Eli Lilly to Pursue mRNA Cancer Vaccines with CureVac Pact [Xconomy] CureVac’s research in mRNA drugs encompasses diseases such as rabies, HIV, and influenza. The company has advanced one of its mRNA drug candidates into mid-stage clinical trials for prostate cancer.
Lilly and CureVac Announce Global Collaboration to Develop mRNA Cancer Vaccines [Lilly] CureVac's proprietary RNActive technology will be used to deliver mRNA that ultimately directs the human immune system to target the encoded neoantigens. These tumor-specific neoantigens instruct the patient's existing immune system to mount a selective and potent response to eradicate the cancer.
AbbVie and Harpoon Therapeutics Announce Immuno-Oncology Research Collaboration [AbbVie] Under the terms of the agreement, Harpoon will engineer TriTAC molecules directed against selected cancer targets using its proprietary platform, evaluate the molecules for pharmacologic properties, and provide AbbVie the right to pursue further development and commercialization of these molecules.
Eli Lilly is making a $1.8B leap into the mRNA field, targeting next-gen cancer vaccines [EndPoints] Eli Lilly is diving into the messenger RNA arena, signing off on a heavily back-ended $1.8 billion deal with Germany’s CureVac to develop up to 5 new-wave cancer vaccines.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T
FDA follows through with a groundbreaking OK for Yescarta, Gilead’s new CAR-T breakthrough [EndPoints] In a virtual heartbeat, Gilead used its considerable cash reserves to reach a deal to buy out Kite and axi-cel 6 weeks ago, acquiring its newly approved CAR-T and all the next-gen technology now in the works. The acquisition made Gilead an overnight leader in CAR-T.
Kite’s Yescarta™ (Axicabtagene Ciloleucel) Becomes First CAR T Therapy Approved by the FDA for the Treatment of Adult Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Large B-Cell Lymphoma After Two or More Lines of Systemic Therapy [Gilead] Manufacturing Success Rate of 99 Percent in ZUMA-1 Pivotal Trial with a Median 17 Day Turnaround Time.
Kite Nabs First Adult CAR-T Approval With Notable Uptick Of Cures [Xconomy] But that vigilance, which makes T cell therapies so promising, also has a price. Axi-cel has produced some of the severe side effects that have haunted other versions of this new, powerful kind of cancer medicine.
FDA Approves Another Amazing And Costly Cancer-Killing Gene Therapy [Forbes] Chang says Kite (now Gilead) is developing CAR-T treatments for other cancers. It will test a CAR-T against a target called BCMA in multiple myeloma, another targeted against cancers caused by the human papilloma virus, and a third against MAGE3, hoping to to move the technology beyond cancers of the blood.
FDA approves a game-changing treatment for blood cancer [STAT] One dose of Novartis’ therapy left 83 percent of patients cancer free after three months. For Gilead, whose treatment targets a different form of cancer, that number is just above one-third.
F.D.A. Approves Second Gene-Altering Treatment for Cancer [NY Times] The treatment was originally developed at the National Cancer Institute, by a team Dr. Steven Rosenberg led. The institute entered an agreement with Kite in 2012, in which the company helped pay for research and received rights to commercialize the results.
FDA approves CAR-T cell therapy to treat adults with certain types of large B-cell lymphoma [FDA] Yescarta is the second gene therapy product approved in the U.S.
Move over, Novartis: Kite and Gilead break into CAR-T market with early axi-cel nod [FiercePharma] In Kite’s pivotal study, 72% of patients responded and 51% achieved complete remissions during the median follow-up period of about 8 months.
U.S. FDA approves Gilead cancer gene therapy; price set at $373,000 [Reuters] The high price of CAR-Ts is igniting a new debate over the rising cost of prescription drugs. Novartis said it would charge for Kymriah only if patients responded within a month of the treatment, but Gilead is not following suit.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Bristol-Myers' Opdivo gets into high gear for new melanoma approval [FiercePharma] Moving the therapy into the postsurgery field could add around $1 billion in potential sales, Leerink Partners analysts have said, though some of that would come from patients who might otherwise have used Yervoy.
	5.13 WCLC
Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) More Than Doubled Median Overall Survival Compared to Chemotherapy After Two Years of Follow Up in First-Line Treatment of Patients with Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with High Levels of PD-L1 [Merck] Data Showed Median Overall Survival of 30.0 Months for KEYTRUDA Group Compared to 14.2 Months for Chemotherapy Group.
Padding its lung cancer lead, Merck's Keytruda helped PD-L1 patients live 30 months longer [FiercePharma] With those new stats in the mix, the study continues to show a 37% reduction in the risk of death for Merck’s star drug versus chemotherapy.
	5.2 Pharma
Ignyta NSCLC durability data set stage for Pfizer fight [FierceBiotech] The limitations of cross-trial comparisons make it impossible to say exactly how Ignyta’s entrectinib matches up to Pfizer’s Xalkori, the current go-to drug for ROS1-positive NSCLC patients. But, in the context of the 32-patient, single-arm study in which it is being tested, entrectinib is doing a decent job of painting itself as a viable contender for the crown.
AstraZeneca's Lynparza ups the ante at the PARP table with FDA's speedy breast cancer review [FiercePharma] If Lynparza can bring home an FDA nod, it’ll be the first PARP inhibitor to venture outside of the ovarian cancer arena. And that’ll open it up to sales its competitors—Clovis Oncology’s Rubraca and Tesaro’s Zejula—can’t currently touch.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Researchers "drug the undruggable" through unique collaboration [Cancer Research UK] The results of the study, published in Nature, show that two novel and specific small-molecule inhibitors developed by the alliance can bind to and deactivate an enzyme that controls the stability of the p53 tumour suppressor protein. This deactivation allows p53 to be turned on, putting the brakes on cancer growth.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Drug Companies Make Eyedrops Too Big — And You Pay for the Waste [ProPublica] The makers of cancer drugs also make vials with too much medication for many patients. The excess drugs are tossed in the trash — another reason health care costs are so high.
Cancer drug prices rising far faster than inflation [The Guardian] The study, led by Dr. Daniel Goldstein of Emory University in Atlanta, looked at 24 injectable cancer drugs approved since 1996 and found the average increase was 25 percent over eight years. After inflation, the average increase was 18 percent.
Drug Development Costs Revisited [In the Pipeline] One of the things you come away with from studying this issue is that the cost-per-drug has truly been increasing, and that the (relatively steady) productivity of the drug industry as a whole is due to lots more cash being frantically bulldozed into the the furnaces behind the scenes.
	5.6 ESMO
First ESMO Award in Immuno-Oncology Goes to Laurence Zitvogel [ESMO] The ESMO Award in Immuno-Oncology was created this year in commemoration of the European pioneer in cancer research in immunology, founding member and first President of ESMO, Prof Georges Mathé.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Norman Sharpless sworn in as director of the National Cancer Institute [NIH] As a practicing oncologist at the N.C. Cancer Hospital, the clinical arm of Lineberger, he specialized in the care of patients with hematologic cancers.
	6.12 Ethique
Ethics and the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide: An American College of Physicians Position Paper [Annals of Internal Medicine] On the basis of substantive ethics, clinical practice, policy, and other concerns articulated in this position paper, the ACP does not support legalization of physician-assisted suicide.