Onco Actu du 7 février 2018

	1. Biologie
Ageing immune system may explain age-related cancer risk increase [University of Dundee] The Dundee team, which also features researchers from Heriot Watt University, the University of Edinburgh and the Institut Curie in France, have shown that the declining immune system with age may actually be a stronger reason for the increasing incidence of developing cancer than multiple mutations.
	1.4 Biologie - Technos
Sequencing Human Genome with Pocket-Sized “Nanopore” Device [NIH Director's Blog] Despite those longer, easier-to-assemble reads, the researchers still required some big computers, including the high-performance computational resources in NIH’s Biowulf system, to make sense of the data, correct for errors, and piece together portions of the genome that had been impossible to assemble previously.
	3.3 Prévention - Vaccins
Gov’t confirms HPV jabs for men who have sex with men [PharmaTimes] NHS England and Public Health England (PHE) are planning a phased start to the programme from April 2018, for men aged 45 of younger attending sexual health (GUM) clinics and HIV clinics in England.
	3.4.1 Chimioprévention - aspirine
Major research project launched to crack aspirin's anti-cancer properties [Cancer Research UK] While the mechanism that aspirin uses to reduce pain is well known, little is known regarding how aspirin cuts cancer risk. The researchers hope to unravel this, which could lead to a new drug designed to have the same benefits of aspirin but without the side-effects.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
SOPHiA GENETICS Announces CE-IVD Marking of its Genomic Test for Leukemia Detection [Sophia Genetics] The Myeloid Solution by SOPHiA GENETICS is the best-in-class molecular diagnostic application which empowers clinicians to more precisely diagnose hematological disorders.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
IU Health Expands Precision Genomics Program for Cancer Patients [Xconomy] The program does have some unique aspects. IU’s doctors sequence all 22,000 genes in a person’s genome, including genes of the tumor as well as healthy tissue. Most tests, Hundley maintains, look at less than 400.
	5. Traitements
Positive Results in a Busy Week of Cancer Clinical Studies [OBR] This week is turning out to be a busy and exciting week in readouts from Phase 3 clinical trials, including results from the CheckMate 227 trial in first-line advanced non-small cell lung cancer; the IMmotion 151 trial in unresectable locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma; and the COLUMBUS trial in melanoma.
	5.1 Traitements - Pré-clinique
Adding crizotinib to radiation therapy may help preserve hearing in patients with NF2 [Mass. General Hospital] Their paper being published online in PNAS Plus also describes creation of a novel mouse model that mimics NF2-associated hearing loss and a better system for culturing tumor cells for NF2 patients.
Study Identifies Potential Drug Combination for Ewing Sarcoma [NCI] One of the drugs, vincristine, is a chemotherapy agent that is part of the standard treatment for patients with Ewing sarcoma. The other, YK-4-279, is an experimental drug that targets an abnormality, called a fusion protein, that is commonly found in Ewing sarcoma tumors.
Combination treatment blocks cell growth and triggers cell death in colon cancer [Institute of Cancer Research] In the study, published in Molecular Oncology, the researchers describe the activity of CCT068127 which was developed from seliciclib, an early-generation CDK-inhibiting drug.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T
CAR T-Cell Therapy Provides High Remission Rate in Paediatric and Young Adult Patients with Relapsed or Refractory B-Cell ALL [ESMO] The risks associated with tisagenlecleucel are substantial, leading to care in intensive care unit in some cases, but were mitigated in most patients with supportive measures and cytokine blockade.
	5.12.3 Immunothérapies-combinaisons
Bristol-Myers Squibb Sows Confusion [In the Pipeline] The changes to the trial were one issue, the lack of transparency about how the trial had changed was another, and just the fact that a company this large, with such an important readout, would have done something like this was a third.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
After FDA setback, Bellicum bolsters R&D team with ex-Genentech executive [FierceBiotech] Grossman officially joins the Houston-based biotech Monday after two-and-a-half years at Genentech/Roche, where he most recently served as medical director of its cancer immunotherapy program.
	5.2 Pharma
Celgene Corporation Announces Positive Results from the Pivotal Phase III ‘OPTIMISMM' Study of POMALYST/IMNOVID® for the Treatment of Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma [Celgene] Study met its primary endpoint demonstrating significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) with POMALYST®/IMNOVID® in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone (PVd) compared with bortezomib and low-dose dexamethasone.
Array’s encorafenib/binimetinib beats Roche’s Zelboraf in phase 3 [FierceBiotech] While Array had to withdraw its binimetinib application for a different form of the cancer—NRAS-mutant melanoma—this did not affect its other programs. The biotech carried on with other trials of binimetinib and the encorafenib/binimetinib is under FDA review for BRAF-mutant advanced, unresectable or metastatic melanoma.
Looking to grow blockbuster Pomalyst franchise, Celgene declares a win for multiple myeloma triplet in pivotal PhIII [EndPoints] Pomalyst racked up $1.6 billion in sales for Celgene last year, a 23% increase over the $1.3 billion seen in 2016. That makes the drug Celgene’s number two therapy on the market.
Array melanoma drugs show significant survival versus Roche drug in study [Reuters] The oral drugs, encorafenib and binimetinib, are awaiting a U.S. approval decision by June 30 based on promising data on their ability to stall disease worsening, or progression-free survival (PFS). European regulators are also reviewing the treatment.
Encorafenib and Binimetinib Combination Treatment Demonstrates 33.6 Month Median Overall Survival (OS) in Patients with BRAF-Mutant Melanoma in Phase 3 COLUMBUS Trial [Array] At the time of the planned analysis comparing COMBO450 to vemurafenib monotherapy, a preliminary analysis of OS in patients treated with 300 mg encorafenib alone daily (ENCO300), demonstrated a median OS of 23.5 months.
Array MEK/BRAF combo beats out Roche rival in PhIII melanoma OS showdown [EndPoints] The Boulder, CO-based company reported today that the combination of encorafenib 450 mg daily and binimetinib 45 mg twice daily — dubbed COMBO450 — produced a median OS of 33.6 months, doubling the 16.9 months recorded in the Zelboraf (vemurafinib) arm.
	5.5 ASCO
Preview Of Key Abstracts From The 2018 ASCO GU Cancers Symposium [OBR] On the eve of the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium to be held in San Francisco February 8-10, a pre-meeting presscast featured four noteworthy abstracts: two related to immunotherapy with a PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab in urothelial cancers and two to treatment of non-metastatic advanced prostate cancer.
	5.5.3 ASCO (prostate)
Prostate cancer shake-up looms with new data from Pfizer, Astellas and Johnson & Johnson [FiercePharma] Without details on secondary endpoints, which the companies will unveil during full presentations later this week, and without longer-term data showing whether living longer metastasis-free will help patients live longer, period—well, the conclusions to be made at this point are limited.
	5.5.4 ASCO (immunothérapies)
Roche notches fresh win amid crowd of immunotherapy cocktails [Reuters] Success of Roche’s trial, so far, compares favourably with the mixed results in last year’s study by Bristol-Myers Squibb for its Opdivo and Yervoy combination against kidney cancer.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Cardiff man's eight-month cancer treatment wait [BBC News] A grandfather waited eight months for cancer treatment only to be told his condition had become terminal.
	6.10.1 Politiques (USA)
Medical and Patient Groups Warn Congress Against “Right to Try” [Xconomy] “Our organizations support patient access to unapproved therapies,” the letter reads, in part. “However, the right-to-try bills currently under consideration in the House do not effectuate policy changes that would afford our patients greater access to promising investigational therapies. Instead, these bills would likely do more harm than good.”
	6.6 Publications
The Journal Impact Factor: A brief history, critique, and discussion of adverse effects [arXiv] The inflation of the JIF and the weakening predictive power is discussed, as well as the adverse effects on the behaviors of individual actors and the research enterprise. Alternative journal-based indicators are described and the chapter concludes with a call for responsible application and a commentary on future developments in journal indicators.
A Festival for Persistent Identifiers [Research Data] We need trust in the connections between the things we’re trying to find. How do we incentivise researchers to use PIDs to link their data publications to all research outputs? What can we learn from the PID community that could help drive adoption in the data community?
	6.7.1 Bioinformatique
Greedy, Brittle, Opaque, and Shallow: The Downsides to Deep Learning [Wired] Natural language is beyond deep learning; new situations baffle artificial intelligences, like cows brought up short at a cattle grid. None of these shortcomings is likely to be solved soon.