Onco Actu du 7 mars 2018

	1. Biologie
Working Toward Greater Precision in Childhood Cancers [NIH Director's Blog] Overall the studies confirm that childhood cancers often carry many fewer mutations than adult cancers. Many of the driver genes also appear to be involved in causing one specific type of childhood cancer. That’s different than adult cancers, in which mutations in particular genes often drive multiple forms of cancer.
	2. Etiologie
Half of Britons mistakenly believe stress causes cancer [The Guardian] The WCRF’s latest snapshot of levels of British people’s knowledge about possible carcinogens also reveals that 51% do not know that processed meat increases cancer risk. This is despite extensive publicity in recent years given to evidence linking ham, bacon and other similar products to raised cancer risk.
	3.2 Prévention - Obésité
Food industry told to cut calories to tackle obesity [Cancer Research UK] Alison Cox, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer prevention, welcomed the move and said it’s vital that the government continues to put pressure on the food industry. “Scientific evidence shows that being overweight or obese is the UK’s biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking, and is linked to 13 different types of the disease,” said Cox.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
Overdiagnosis: when finding cancer can do more harm than good [Cancer Research UK] Over the last few decades overdiagnosis has been receiving more attention. And with new cancer detection technology on the horizon, ranging from blood tests to wristbands, it’s important that we learn more about it and work out how to minimise it.
	4.1 Dép., diag. & prono. - Prostate
Prostate screening saves no lives and may do more harm than good [The Telegraph] The new trial, which spanned almost 600 GP practices in the UK and included more than 400,000 men aged 50-69, is the largest trial ever to investigate prostate cancer screening.
Why a one-off PSA test for prostate cancer is doing men more harm than good [Cancer Research UK] “What we know is that giving men without symptoms a PSA test does not change the ultimate outcome if cancer is present, meanwhile any treatment used may produce unpleasant side effects.”
One-off PSA screening for prostate cancer does not save lives [Cancer Research UK] After an average of 10 years follow up, there were 8,054 (4.3%) prostate cancers in the screened group and 7,853 (3.6%) cases in the control group. Crucially, both groups had the same percentage of men dying from prostate cancer (0.29%).
	4.10 Dép., diag. & prono. - FDA, EMA, NICE,...
A Major Milestone in Consumer Health Empowerment [23andMe] Results should be confirmed with a healthcare provider in a clinical setting before taking any medical action. 23andMe’s BRCA1/BRCA2 report is not going to be helpful for everyone, but it’s a step in the right direction. We already know of customers who benefited from this information.
FDA Approves Consumer BRCA Test, And We Take Another Step Into The Brave New World Of Genomics [Dr. Len's Blog] Unfortunately, neither our population in general nor a goodly portion of our health professional work force is yet sufficiently familiar with all the nuances, questions and answers about genetic testing that people who rely on them expect them to know.
FDA approves first direct-to-consumer test for breast cancer risk [STAT] The agency therefore warned that individuals and their physicians should not use the test results to make decisions about treatments, including prophylactic removal of the breasts or ovaries. That should be based on more extensive testing.
23andMe Will Now Test for BRCA Breast-Cancer Genes [The Atlantic] It’s the first FDA-authorized genetic-cancer-risk test available without a doctor’s note.
FDA authorizes, with special controls, direct-to-consumer test that reports three mutations in the BRCA breast cancer genes [FDA] It is the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) test to report on three specific BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancer gene mutations that are most common in people of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish descent. These three mutations, however, are not the most common BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations in the general population.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
All Cancer Patients Should Have Access To Genomic Testing [Forbes] Should insurers pay for these tests, if these serve research purposes? Should the government? Need philanthropy take care of it? Perhaps Foundation Medicine needs cut its price, as should other precision oncology companies (see below) as their tests move forward in the FDA regulatory pathway.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Drug that targets ‘on switch’ in cancer cells moves one step closer [Institute of Cancer Research] The drug blocks a molecule called AKT, which plays a key role in a mechanism that cancer cells rely on to survive, grow and resist treatment. Using a range of doses, the team was able to collect data on which side effects the patients reported, and combine this with the results of tests that showed how the drug interacts with the body.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
CRISPR enhances cancer immunotherapy [WUSTL] Gene editing expands reach of therapeutic T cells, in mice.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T
Roswell Park Approved to Administer CAR T-Cell Therapy, Yescarta, to Lymphoma Patients [Roswell Park] Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of more than 30 hospitals across the nation that’s authorized to treat patients with Yescarta.
	5.12.6 Immunothérapies - AMM
Bristol-Myers Squibb looks for Opdivo convenience edge with new 4-week dosing [FiercePharma] The go-ahead, which BMS said in a statement would “provide healthcare professionals the flexibility to customize patient care,” doesn’t apply to all of Opdivo’s indications, but it does apply to the majority of them—including those in the competitive melanoma, second-line lung cancer and bladder cancer fields.
Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo® (nivolumab) Now the First and Only FDA-Approved PD-1 Inhibitor to Offer Every Four-Week Dosing [BMS] Opdivo also now approved for shorter 30-minute infusions, cutting previous infusion time in half.
FDA approves new dosing for Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo [Reuters] William Blair analyst Matt Phipps in a client note said the new approval may help the drug expand into the “maintenance and adjuvant therapy settings”.
	5.12.7 Immunothérapies - vaccins
Oxford Vacmedix moves cancer vaccines forward with $12.5M from South Korea, China [EndPoints] The new funds will carry OVM through preclinical development to the beginning of Phase I trials in two lead programs: OVM-100 is an HPV vaccine targeting cervical cancer, while OVM-200 attacks solid tumors with an apoptosis inhibitor called survivin.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Novartis expands alliance with Science 37 to advance virtual clinical trials program [Novartis] The studies will blend virtual and traditional models, with increasing degrees of decentralization towards a mostly "site-less" model.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Japan cuts prices on BMS and Ono's Opdivo, Merck's Keytruda: report [FiercePharma] Opdivo's price cut follows another last year, when the country halved the price of the immuno-oncology blockbuster. At the time, growing costs forced officials to make the unusual move of changing the med's price ahead of a regularly scheduled review in 2018.
	5.6 ESMO
TAT 2018: Novel App Designed to Facilitate Biomarker-Driven Trials of Targeted Anti-Cancer Agents [ESMO] The Precision Trial Designer accounts for the co-existence of multiple actionable genetic mutations per patient.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Fund ideas, not pedigree, to find fresh insight [Nature] To paraphrase Winston Churchill, grant peer review might be the worst system, except all the others. Given the massive resources dedicated to it, we need a better evidence base to guide its evolution.
	6.1 Observation
Hundreds of lung cancer patients may be dying early each year [The Guardian] The latest study, published in the journal Thorax, is based on statistics for more than 175,000 lung cancer patients in England diagnosed between 2010 and 2014.
	6.3 Associations/Fondations
Finding common ground with arthritis could help cancer patients [Cancer Research UK] This approach is the foundation behind our new partnership with Arthritis Research UK. Launched last year, this exciting new collaboration is funding innovative research projects focused on the common ground between both arthritis and cancer, with the hope of bringing benefits for both diseases.
	6.6 Publications
Does your code stand up to scrutiny? [Nature] Nature journals encourage researchers who submit papers that rely on bespoke software to provide the programs for peer review.
Catching the Wave — The Tide Turns Toward the Subscription Model [The Scholarly Kitchen] The utopia hasn’t materialized, despite major efforts and significant change. The subscription model is still prevalent, and open access (OA) continues to be a relatively minor part of the scholarly publishing economy even 20 years hence.
When a journal is delisted, authors pay a price [Retraction Watch] This is shocking news to me and my collaborators. We would have never considered Oncotarget if we had known that there would issues like.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
Lieven Annemans: We need to reach a common understanding about real world data [BMJ Blogs] Although real world data can complement data from trials, overly optimistic expectations about its use may lead to a situation of “surreal world data”.
	6.9 Controverses
Authors of premier medical textbook didn’t disclose $11 million in industry payments [STAT] Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, now in its 20th edition, is a must-read for medical students and young internists. It has been called “the most recognized book in all of medicine.” It’s also a case study in hidden conflicts of interest.