Onco Actu du 15 janvier 2018

	1. Biologie
How can CRISPR genome editing shape the future of cancer research? [Cancer Research UK] CRISPR allows scientists to precisely tweak genes faster than ever before, and at a fraction of the cost of older techniques. These tweaks can be used to answer questions in the lab, but there’s also excitement, and trepidation, over the potential use of the tech to treat diseases.
	4.5 Dép., diag. & prono. - Colorectal
How To Tell Grandpa He Is Too Old For Another Colonoscopy [Forbes] The senior citizens in the study preferred another approach: They liked the idea of doctors saying something along the lines of: “You don’t need a colonoscopy; that test won’t help you live longer.” This message is more appealing because it doesn’t force patients to think about how old they are, or how soon they are going to die.
Colonoscopy? How About a Blood Test? [Bloomberg] Israel’s Medial offers less-invasive, more data-driven assessments to resistant patients.
	5.1 Traitements - Pré-clinique
Decoding cancer-linked enzyme could lead to better EGFR cancer drugs [FierceBiotech] The team, from the NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, modeled the 3D structure of the human DHHC20 enzyme. In a process called palmitoylation, this enzyme modifies EGFR, which is over-activated in colon and non-small cell lung cancers.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
Forty Seven lines up Roche as second partner for CD47 cancer immunotherapy [FierceBiotech] It’s the second I-O partnership signed for lead drug Hu5F9-G4, coming after a link-up with German drugmaker Merck KGaA last November to test the drug in combination with its recently approved Bavencio (avelumab) in a phase 1b ovarian cancer trial.
Genentech beefs up its PD-L1 combo pipeline, signing the ‘don’t eat me’ specialists at Forty Seven [EndPoints] The biotech put out word that Genentech will combine their two checkpoint drugs for use against acute myeloid leukemia and bladder cancer, with the big Roche subsidiary sponsoring the studies.
	5.12.3 Immunothérapies-combinaisons
Merck, Eisai nab Keytruda-Lenvima 'breakthrough' in quickly crowding kidney cancer field [FiercePharma] The designation follows “impressive” data from the duo, which, in a phase 1b/2 study last year, posted overall response rates of 83% in the first-line setting and 50% in second-line or greater.
	5.2.2 Pharma - Fusions & Acquisitions
Eli Lilly, sporting a lower tax rate, scouts smaller deals in immunology, cancer [FiercePharma] And “we will, on a very selective basis, look to act” in oncology as well, Carroll said.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA)
Lynparza approved by US FDA in germline BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer [AstraZeneca] Lynparza reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 42% compared to standard of care chemotherapy.
AstraZeneca and Merck score as Lynparza nabs first-ever nod to treat BRCA breast cancer [FiercePharma] Under their partnership, Friday's approval triggered a $70 million payment from Merck to AZ. Up to $6 billion could follow, depending on future indications and sales.
Myriad Receives FDA Approval of BRACAnalysis CDx® as Companion Diagnostic for Lynparza™ (olaparib) In Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer [Myriad] The collaboration with AstraZeneca to develop a novel companion diagnostic test to identify candidates for treatment with olaparib began in 2007. The new metastatic breast cancer indication is the second FDA approval of BRACAnalysis CDx for use in conjunction with Lynparza.
FDA approves first drug aimed at women with inherited breast cancer [STAT] Until recently, cancer medicines targeted the disease based on where in the body it occurs. This is a new approach to “target the underlying genetic causes of a cancer,” the FDA’s Dr. Richard Pazdur said in a statement.
FDA Approves First Targeted Therapeutic for BRCA-mutant Breast Cancer [Cancer Research Catalyst] Other PARP inhibitors, including rucaparib, niraparib, and an investigational therapeutic called talazoparib, are being evaluated in clinical trials as potential treatments for patients who have breast cancer harboring an inherited BRCA1/2 mutation.
First treatment approved for breast cancer with BRCA genetic mutation [Washington Post] Lynparza belongs to a class of drugs called PARP inhibitors that block an enzyme involved in repairing damaged DNA.
In a pioneering first, AstraZeneca scores FDA OK to use its PARP against breast cancer [EndPoints] Their Phase III data made the showcase round at ASCO last summer and is further enhancing the FDA’s focus on drugs that can target cancers triggered by the same genetic causes.
U.S. FDA approves expanded use of AstraZeneca breast cancer drug [Reuters] This is the first time a PARP inhibitor has been approved to treat breast cancer and the first time any drug has been approved to treat certain patients with metastatic breast cancer associated with the same genetic mutation.
FDA approves olaparib for germline BRCA-mutated metastatic breast cancer [FDA] Approval was based on data from OlympiAD (NCT02000622), an open-label, multi-center clinical trial that randomized 302 patients with gBRCAm, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (2:1) to olaparib 300 mg orally twice daily or physician’s choice of chemotherapy (capecitabine, vinorelbine, or eribulin).
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
At $850,000, price for new childhood blindness gene therapy four times too high, analysis says [STAT] If they are able to reverse or prevent disease — and avoid all the future medical costs that accompany long-lasting conditions — how much is fair for the drug makers to recoup?
Non-Profit Says $850,000 Gene Therapy Is At Least Twice As Expensive As It Should Be [Forbes] Luxturna is an illustration about one of the cruel realities of both disease and drug development: the choices are hard, and the math is merciless.
Drugmakers see a pricing blueprint in an $850,000 gene therapy [Reuters] The company is talking to the U.S. government, as well as governments in the UK, France, Germany and Italy, about pricing over a period of time and how to prove a drug is working.
	5.5 ASCO
Upcoming Symposium to Feature New Insights for Management of Prostate, Bladder, Kidney Cancers [ASCO] The 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium will take place February 8-10 at the Moscone West Building in San Francisco, California. Abstracts presented at the Symposium will discuss the latest strategies in the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of prostate, kidney, testicular, and bladder cancers.
	6.1 Observation
Breast cancer survival not affected by faulty BRCA genes [Cancer Research UK] “It can be difficult for some patients to decide whether or not to have risk-reducing surgery, typically double mastectomies and removal of ovaries. And our data suggest that this decision can be made, if preferred, once a woman has physically and psychologically recovered from their cancer treatment.”
Gene Therapy Could Make Cancer Care More Unequal, and This Map Shows Why [MIT Technology Review] “The reality is, the market isn’t that big, so it doesn’t make sense to train everyone to do it,” Levine says. More CAR-T therapies are in development, but so far it’s unclear how well they will work for more common cancers.
	6.7.1 Bioinformatique
Just What The Software Ordered: This AI Could Help Finnish Doctors Spot Cancer [GE] The company currently is working with GE Digital to move its software to Predix, GE’s app development platform for the Industrial Internet. The team already has traveled to GE’s software headquarters in San Ramon, California, and to its European Digital Foundry in Paris.
	6.9 Controverses
IARCgate: Shouldn’t IARC Stop Lying? [The Risk-Monger] Outgoing IARC Director, Christopher Wild, refused to attend the US House Science Committee hearing into the IARCgate scandal. In actions of arrogance never seen before by any UN agency, Wild is snubbing IARC’s single largest funder.