Onco Actu du 21 décembre 2017

	2.6 Etiologie - Environnement
U.S. EPA says glyphosate not likely to be carcinogenic to people [Reuters] The EPA, in a draft risk assessment report issued on Monday, also said it found “no other meaningful risks to human health” when glyphosate, the world’s biggest-selling weed killer, is used according to its label instructions.
	3.1.1 Prévention - Tabac - e-cigs
Scientists describe problems in Philip Morris e-cigarette experiments [Reuters] Former employees and contractors have detailed irregularities in the clinical experiments that underpin Philip Morris International's application to the FDA for approval of its iQOS smoking device. The agency is expected to decide by next year on whether the tobacco giant can sell its new product in the U.S.
	5. Traitements
The Antibody–Drug Conjugate Target Landscape [ESMO] The researchers from the Department of Medical Oncology, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands led by Dr Rudolf Fehrmann published in December issue of the Annals of Oncology an analysis that provides a data-driven prioritization of clinically available antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) directed against 59 targets across 60 tumour (sub)types.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
More Tumor Mutations Equals Higher Success Rate With Cancer Immunotherapy Drugs [Johns Hopkins] Higher “mutational burden” predicts which cancer types will respond to therapies known as checkpoint inhibitors.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
TARIS and Bristol-Myers Squibb Announce Clinical Trial Collaboration [BMS] Phase 1b Study to Combine TAR-200 (GemRIS™) with Opdivo ® (nivolumab) in the Treatment of Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Singapore’s Tessa raises $80M for T cell therapy push [FierceBiotech] The VST approach has some similarities with autologous CAR-T therapies, and involves harvesting white blood cells from peripheral blood, stimulating them to proliferate and respond to tumor cells expressing viral antigens, and then infusing the cells back into the patient in the hope of stimulating an immune response.
Parker Institute-allied Tessa grabs an $80M round for its next-gen cancer cell therapies [EndPoints] The big idea at Tessa is that it knows how to adapt virus-specific T cells to target virally-associated tumors like cervical and head and neck cancer, swarming the cells.
	5.12.6 Immunothérapies - AMM
Bristol-Myers Squibb Receives FDA Approval for Opdivo (nivolumab) as Adjuvant Therapy in Patients with Completely Resected Melanoma with Lymph Node Involvement or Metastatic Disease [BMS] Opdivo, the first and only anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor approved for adjuvant treatment of melanoma, is indicated for both BRAF mutant and wild type patients.
Oncology News Burst from FDA: Nivolumab [SITC] On December 20, 2017, the Food and Drug Administration granted regular approval to the anti-PD1 monoclonal antibody, nivolumab (OPDIVO®, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma with involvement of lymph nodes or in patients with metastatic disease who have undergone complete resection. Nivolumab was previously approved for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma.
	5.12.8 Immunothérapies - Economie
Expensive new cancer therapy may be cost effective [Colorado Cancer Blogs] According to Jon Campbell, PhD, associate professor of pharmacy, the cost-effectiveness findings for both CAR-T therapies were `promising’ and suggested that they may be a good use of our health care resources toward improving health. They significantly extended the lives of some patients, much more on average, than traditional chemotherapy.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy for B-Cell Cancers: Effectiveness and Value [ICER] In conclusion, the findings of our analysis suggest that the CAR-T therapies of focus for this review provide gains in quality-adjusted and overall survival over alternative chemotherapies. With the evidence available at this time, these therapies seem to be priced in alignment with clinical benefits over a lifetime time horizon.
	5.2 Pharma
Bayer announces initiation of rolling submission of new drug application in the U.S. for larotrectinib for the treatment of TRK fusion cancers [Bayer] Completion of NDA submission expected in early 2018.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Exelixis soars on blockbuster first-line nod for kidney cancer drug Cabometyx [FiercePharma] The news capped off a good year for Exelixis—and for a drug that once had limited prospects. Cabozantinib, the active ingredient in Cabometyx, was first approved in 2012 to treat a rare form of thyroid cancer, under the brand name Cometriq.
GAO report tracks the growth of an $89B drug R&D sector as biopharma sales soared [EndPoints] The NIH allocated $13.6 billion for basic research in 2014, more than twice the $6.3 billion reported by pharma companies.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
European Commission approves Roche’s Alecensa (alectinib) as first-line treatment in ALK-positive lung cancer [Roche] In addition to today’s first-line approval, the EC also converted the conditional marketing authorisation of Alecensa in crizotinib failure to a standard marketing authorisation.
FDA approves Roche’s Perjeta (pertuzumab) for adjuvant treatment of specific type of early breast cancer [Roche] Accelerated approval of Perjeta for neoadjuvant use also converted to full approval.
EU OKs first-line use of Roche’s lung cancer drug Alecensa [PharmaTimes] The approval is based on data from the Phase III ALEX study, which showed that the drug significantly cut the risk of disease worsening or death by 53 percent compared to crizotinib.
Roche scores cancer drug approvals in Europe and U.S. [Reuters] The European Commission approved Alecensa as a treatment for a mutated form of lung cancer called ALK-positive, the company said on Thursday, while U.S. regulators backed Perjeta for use in certain early-stage breast cancer patients after surgery.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
2017 cancer research highlights: a patient’s pick [Cancer Research UK] We sifted through our press releases and blog posts, as well as research headlines from elsewhere, to create the ultimate shortlist. We then set Peter Breaden, a retired biomedical scientist, pancreatic cancer survivor and Media Volunteer, the challenge of selecting his most significant cancer research stories of the year.
	6.1 Observation
Many brain tumor patients do not receive adequate end-of-life care [Mass. General Hopsital] Mass. General study finds that almost 40 percent of malignant glioma patients never enroll in hospice, and a quarter of those who do may enroll too late for full benefits.
Life expectancy in the U.S. is falling — and drug overdose deaths are soaring [STAT] Life expectancy isn’t falling for women — just for men. Life expectancy for women at birth is 81.1 years, compared to 76.1 years for men.
	6.11 Patients
For better quality of life, older cancer patients need more than just medicine [Reuters] To see what makes the biggest difference in quality of life, researchers surveyed 1,457 older cancer patients about a wide range of physical, psychological, and social factors.