Onco Actu du 15 décembre 2017

	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Liquid Biopsy Results Differed Substantially Between Two Providers [Johns Hopkins] The results, they say, raise the possibility that cancer patients could be prescribed different treatments depending on which commercial provider is used for liquid biopsy.
Roche’s Jennifer Cook Appointed CEO of Grail [Xconomy] Cook comes to Menlo Park, CA-based Grail from Roche, where she is head of clinical operations in product development for the company’s pharmaceuticals division.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Proper data sharing in genomic medicine a top priority [PHG Foundation] The National Data Guardian for Health and Care 2017 report: Impact and influence for patients and service users looks back at Dame Fiona Caldicott’s three years as the first National Data Guardian and sets eight priorities for the future.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
First-in-class ERK1/2 Inhibitor Safe, Shows Early Efficacy in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors [AACR] Sullivan and colleagues tested the ERK inhibitor ulixertinib in an open-label, first-in-human study. They enrolled 27 patients in the dose-escalation phase and 108 in the dose-expansion phase. All patients had advanced solid tumors, and more than 65 percent had BRAF-mutant cancers.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
BMS partners again with the company behind Opdivo [Pharmafile] Back in 2011, BMS made the decision to partner with Ono on nivolumab, a choice that would prove financially lucrative to both companies. The immunotherapy prospect became Opdivo – a treatment that scored $1.2 billion in revenue in the third quarter alone.
Bristol-Myers teams up with Opdivo maker Ono Pharmaceutical on new I/O programs [EndPoints] Researchers say that PGE2 suppresses tumor immunity and promotes tumor growth, and preclinical data suggest its modulation may complement anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 therapies — which would make it a good fit for Opdivo and Yervoy. The drug is in Phase I trials in Japan.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T
Cancer Patients With Little Time Left Wait for Gilead’s New Drug [Bloomberg] Doctors at the cancer centers blame holdups in getting the treatment paid for by Medicare and Medicaid, the two giant U.S. government health programs, as well as some of the U.S.’s largest insurers.
	5.12.4 Immunothérapies - Essais
One of Merck’s pivotal stomach cancer trials for Keytruda flops, just months after an FDA OK [EndPoints] The pivotal Phase III flop for advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma marks the latest in a long string of often surprising hits and misses in the checkpoint field.
Merck's Keytruda fails pivotal gastric cancer trial [Reuters] The drug, which netted $1.05 billion in sales in the latest quarter, has been previously approved to treat at least five other types of cancer including lung and bladder.
Merck Provides Update on KEYNOTE-061, a Phase 3 Study of KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in Previously Treated Patients with Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma [Merck] The pivotal phase 3 KEYNOTE-061 trial investigating KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), the company’s anti-PD-1 therapy, as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, did not meet its primary endpoint of overall survival in patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1.
	5.12.8 Immunothérapies - Economie
Kyn Nabs $49M to Target Metabolism and Beat Other Cancer Drug Combos [Xconomy] The company is one of a few focusing on an emerging area of cancer immunotherapy: targeting the metabolism of cancer and immune cells to dial up more tumor-killing power from the immune system.
	5.2 Pharma
Novartis announces Oncology head to retire [Novartis] "I'd like to thank Bruno Strigini for his contributions and achievements. He has navigated the business unit through the Gleevec® patent expiration and has led the successful integration of the GSK Oncology Product Portfolio acquired in 2015. I wish him the best for his future."
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Celgene, CRT strike mRNA translation cancer R&D pact [FierceBiotech] Multiple oncogenes and tumor suppressors, including RAS and TP53, act on translation machinery, and dysregulation of protein synthesis is a common feature of cancer cells. Targeting the process could therefore disrupt the spread of cancer.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
New investors, including GV, boost Relay in $63M round [FierceBiotech] “The investment will also support deeper integration of a platform that leverages both best-in-class experimental and computational technologies to discover and develop a pipeline of novel, protein motion-based therapies.”
Its underlying biology ‘too complicated’ for further investment, Atlas-seeded Raze signs off [EndPoints] Raze Therapeutics, the Cambridge startup that launched in 2014 with $24 million in support, is calling it quits. The company was looking to advance a new class of cancer therapeutics that target key metabolic pathways, but it appears the science wasn’t quite ready for prime time.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
FDA puts Bristol-Myers' Opdivo-Yervoy combo in fast lane for new kidney cancer nod [FiercePharma] The combination regimen, which pairs Bristol's PD-1 immunotherapy Opdivo with its CTLA4 drug Yervoy, is up for an approval for intermediate- and poor-risk patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, and the FDA is due to decide next April.
Biosimilars: Breaking Through to Cancer Treatment [Cancer Research Catalyst] Given the differences, the development of generic drugs and biosimilars are governed by different legislation and they are approved through different regulatory paths.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
NICE flip-flops to back J&J's Imbruvica in mantle cell lymphoma [FiercePharma] Imbruvica is recommended as a treatment option only for MCL patients who have had just one prior line of therapy. The other condition, as is often the case with NICE, is that J&J offer up a previously agreed-upon—and confidential—discount.
Ibrutinib for treating relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma [NICE] Ibrutinib is recommended as an option for treating relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma in adults, only if : - they have had only 1 previous line of therapy and - the company provides ibrutinib with the discount agreed in the commercial access agreement with NHS England.
	6.1 Observation
Prior Cancers Common in Patients Newly Diagnosed with Cancer [NCI] The University of Texas Southwestern researchers pulled data from NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registries for 740,990 persons newly diagnosed with cancer between January 2009 through December 2013. Overall, they found that 18.4% of newly diagnosed patients had a prior history of cancer.
	6.13 Soins palliatifs
ESMO Press Release: ESMO Publishes New Position Paper on Supportive and Palliative Care [ESMO] The ESMO Position Paper states that individual cancer patients will express different physical, psychological, social, existential and spiritual needs at different stages of the disease, that will often evolve over time. Therefore, patient centred care cannot be standardised, even though it is provided through a standard framework.
	6.8 Communication
An imbalanced infographic: Is this the best way to bring ‘the most exciting, up-to-date science to the world’s attention’? [HealthNewsReview] “I like that they’re trying to get the information out there in an interesting way. But if you just convey a sense of it’s all new, great, and exciting then that is what I think journalists and patients will remember. The adverse outcomes — which are just as important — end up not being talked about. And then I end up with patients asking me about these ‘groundbreaking’ therapies, even when the data don’t support that.”
	6.9 Controverses
Viewpoint: Why so many scientific studies are flawed and poorly understood [Genetic Literacy Project] Researchers have been thriving by churning out this dubious research since the early 1990s, and inasmuch as most of the work on Food Frequency Questionnaires is government funded––by the National Cancer Institute, among other federal entities––it’s ripping off taxpayers as well as misleading them.
Lung Cancer Causes 32% of All Cancer Deaths. Why Does It Get 10% of Research Funding? [Fortune] The reasons for this discrepancy are varied and complex, but there is undoubtedly a connection between disproportional funding and stigmas that persist about the disease.