Onco Actu du 9 octobre 2017

	1. Biologie
DNA damage caused by cancer treatment reversed by ZATT protein [NIH] An international team led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health is the first to discover a new way that cells fix an important and dangerous type of DNA damage known as a DNA-protein crosslink.
State of immune system linked to worse survival in biliary tract cancers [Institute of Cancer Research] More of these deregulated genes were found in samples from the surrounding tissue than in the tumour itself – suggesting that the environment around the tumour plays an important role in the development and progression of the disease.
	3.1 Prévention - Tabac
Matt Myers: Philip Morris has a long history of funding what it calls independent research by previously credible researchers [The Cancer Letter] The Foundation for Tobacco-Free World is unlikely to win hearts and minds in the tobacco control community, said Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
How PR firms created “dialogue” structure used by cancer groups and tobacco clients [The Cancer Letter] I spent five years living and breathing the dialogue and the conflicts it shot into ACS and NCI. These conflicts involved PR firms that also represented tobacco companies. Other conflics included pharmaceutical companies and food companies.
Former American Cancer Society CEO John Seffrin endorses cancer research venture funded by Philip Morris [The Cancer Letter] The presumption that tobacco money comes with strings attached formed the intellectual foundation of the policy Seffrin instituted at ACS. The policy was strict, but, alas, it was also porous. The John Seffrin of yore sponsored the National Dialogue on Cancer, which ran into significant conflicts of interest involving tobacco. I would argue that it was the most important story in oncology from 2000 to 2005.
	3.2 Prévention - Obésité
Weight loss surgery linked to lower risk of cancer [Reuters] Compared to people who didn’t have bariatric surgery, patients who did were 33 percent less likely to develop any type of cancer during the study. They also had 40 percent lower odds of being diagnosed with tumors that are associated with obesity.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
Could opticians refer patients with suspected brain tumours? [Cancer Research UK] Supported by the ACE Programme, a joint NHS England, Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support initiative in England, the Trust developed a new way for opticians to refer people directly to the neuroscience department at their local hospital for rapid diagnostic tests and treatment. And the experience of one patient suggests this is worth exploring further.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Gene test 'narrows down breast cancer risk' [BBC News] Within two years they hope to have improved the gene test to include up to 300 genetic variants that are known to affect the likelihood of developing breast cancer.
Test for breast cancer risk could reduce pre-emptive mastectomies [The Guardian] “BRCA1 and BRCA2 are just part of what we should be looking for when assessing risk and in Manchester we plan to incorporate screening for these new genetic markers in clinical practice within the next six months.”
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Lilly MONARCH 3 Study Published in Journal of Clinical Oncology Demonstrates Benefit of Verzenio™ (abemaciclib) Plus NSAI in Advanced Breast Cancer [Lilly] These data, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in September, demonstrated that abemaciclib plus an NSAI resulted in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) compared to an NSAI alone in women with hormone-receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T
What is the hottest CAR cell therapy target beyond CD19? [Cell Trials] I was able to identify 51 targets, mentioned in database listings – 19 targets in liquid malignancies and 32 targets in solid malignancies.
	5.12.3 Immunothérapies-combinaisons
Merck Hedges Bets With Keytruda Lung Study [Forbes] Translation: we're still not sure this will work, but we better make sure if it does we can maintain our lead.
‘Going big’: Merck launches frontline PhIII lung cancer study for Keytruda/Yervoy combo [EndPoints] The pharma giant has launched a Phase III study combining its checkpoint star with the Bristol-Myers drug. Researchers are recruiting 548 patients at sites around the world.
	5.2 Pharma
The European Medicines Agency accepts marketing authorisation application for Imfinzi in locally-advanced unresectable non-small cell lung cancer [AstraZeneca] The MAA submission is based on positive progression-free survival (PFS) data from the Phase III PACIFIC trial.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
EMA Preps for Staff Shortages, Possible 'Major' Budget Deficit [RAPS] EMA also has been working to figure out how to rework its assessment of medicines to make up for the staff losses after the UK has left the EU, with final recommendations and the final budget to be presented at the next management board meeting in December.
FDA awards 15 grants for clinical trials to stimulate product development for rare diseases [FDA] Approximately 33 percent of the new grant awards fund studies to accelerate cancer research by enrolling patients with rare forms of cancer.
Facing an exodus, EMA starts to line up temp replacements as top staffers jump ship [EndPoints] Guido Rasi, who runs the agency, says it’s clear that many aren’t waiting for the moving notice. He told the FT that 7 senior staffers at the EMA had left since Brexit was passed, an exodus unlike any he’s seen.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Global Health: As Cancer Tears Through Africa, Drug Makers Draw Up a Battle Plan [NY Times] In a deal similar to the one that turned the tide against AIDS, manufacturers and charities will make chemotherapy drugs available in six poor countries at steep discounts.
	6.11 Patients
The cancer stories no one wants to hear [STAT] While our larger cultural conversation around cancer focuses on survivors and miracles, we don’t hear the stories of dying cancer patients — they are often too sick or too busy to tell them. The stories of the dead are lost.
	6.6 Publications
Publishers take ResearchGate to court, alleging massive copyright infringement [Science] The coalition also alleges that ResearchGate is illicitly making as many as 7 million copyrighted articles freely available, and that the company’s “business model depends on the distribution of these in-copyright articles to generate traffic to its site, which is then commercialised through the sale of targeted advertising.”