Onco Actu du 10 janvier 2018

	1. Biologie
Researchers discover that a “muscle” cancer is not really a muscle cancer [St. Jude Children's Research Hospital] Pinpointing the cell type that turns malignant in rhabdomyosarcoma opens the path for better treatments.
	3.1 Prévention - Tabac
One cigarette 'may lead to habit for more than two-thirds of people' [The Guardian] Almost 69% of those who tried smoking went on to smoke daily, analysis of global survey data indicates, highlighting importance of prevention measures.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Six-strong collaboration to sequence 500,000 exomes [Pharmafile] The venture is part of the UK Biobank’s aim to create a database of health information on half a million volunteers, to be made publically available to scientists.
NICE Issues Medtech Innovation Briefing for NGS Panel for Solid Tumours in Children [ESMO] Test provides a genetic profile from a sample of solid tumour tissue for a range of childhood cancers.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Gene Test to Predict Breast Cancer Recurrence Less Cost Effective in Real World Practice [Georgetown University] In this study, investigators looked at the “usual care” costs and effects for patients diagnosed with breast cancer between 2000–2004 (before use of genetic predictive tests) and compared the numbers with patients diagnosed from 2005–2012, when Oncotype DX was available to community physicians.
	5. Traitements
Targeted Therapy’s Achilles Heel: When Selectivity is a Liability [OBR] Ironically, it is often the drug’s selectivity that is the feature tumor cells exploit to escape by developing new mutations in the target protein or finding alternative pathways to compensate for the drug’s inhibitory action.
First in Human Nanomedicine Drug Showing Promise in Solid Cancers [OSU] BXQ-350 combines a protein called Saposin C, which is naturally expressed in humans, with nanobubbles of a fat molecule called DOPS. This combination creates a treatment agent that has the ability to selectively target cancerous tumor cells and then kill them, largely sparing the surrounding healthy tissues.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Trial Transparency: NIH Says Final Rule From 2017 has Helped [RAPS] Almost a year ago, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) made effective a new policy to better disseminate information from NIH-funded clinical trials through ClinicalTrials.gov, and the agency says that so far, it’s seen some improvements.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
BeiGene and Boehringer Ingelheim Announce Commercial Supply Agreement for Anti-PD-1 Antibody Tislelizumab [Boehringer Ingelheim] Under the terms of the supply agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim will manufacture tislelizumab in China under an exclusive multi-year arrangement, with contract extension possible. In addition, BeiGene also obtained certain preferred rights for future capacity expansion by Boehringer Ingelheim in China.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Eisai and Merck Receive Breakthrough Therapy Designation from FDA for LENVIMA® (lenvatinib mesylate) and KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) as Combination Therapy for Advanced and/or Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma [Merck] This Breakthrough Therapy Designation was based on the results of the RCC cohort in Study 111, a multicenter, open-label phase 1b/2 clinical study being carried out in the U.S. and the European Union (EU) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of LENVIMA in combination with KEYTRUDA in subjects with selected solid tumors.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Roche partners with Accenture for data integration on cancer tumor board software solution [FiercePharma] Accenture’s data integration role, added late last month, will help information glow seamlessly and allow data compatibility between hospitals and others on the team while operating on a secure cloud platform.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
Reflections on a Landmark Year for Medical Product Innovation and Public Health Advances and Looking Ahead to Policy in 2018 [FDA Voice] At FDA, we’re being confronted with the need to regulate highly novel areas of science like gene therapy, targeted medicine, cell-based regenerative medicine, and digital health; where our traditional approaches to product regulation may not be as well suited.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Drug pricing pressure isn't likely to get worse: Merck CEO [FiercePharma] Merck's "transparency report" highlighted its yearly increases at a portfolio level. For 2016, the company increased its U.S. prices by 9.6% on average before discounts. Payer negotiations brought the net price hikes to a 5.5% increase on average, according to the report.
HHS Secretary Nominee: 'No Silver Bullet' to Bring Down Drug Prices [RAPS] "No one company is going to fix this system," Azar said later, noting that he does not think there are any branded drugs that have seen decreased prices because the US system is incentivized for higher prices.
HHS nominee Azar signals new line of attack on drug prices [STAT] Azar on Tuesday also repeated an earlier suggestion that he is open to more government drug price negotiations, modeled after the way private Medicare drug plans negotiate prices for their beneficiaries.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
The concept of research impact pervades contemporary academic discourse – but what does it actually mean? [LSE Blog] The authors highlight four core elements that comprise most research impact definitions and propose a new conceptualisation of research impact relevant to health policy.
	6.1 Observation
Screening, Treatment Cuts Breast Cancer Deaths in Half [Doctor's Lounge] "For the period between 2000 and 2012, there were some advances made in the technology for screening for breast cancer, but there was greater impact made by treatment," Lichtenfeld said.
	6.11 Patients
My cancer operation was cancelled and I can’t sleep at night. Jeremy Hunt, how can you? [The Guardian] Only life-threatening conditions were being treated in the theatres. Even cancer operations, like mine, had to be shelved. I’ve been pencilled in for February, but have been warned the same thing could happen again.