Onco Actu du 8 juin 2018

	2. Etiologie
U.S lawmakers seek answers from new head of WHO's cancer agency [Reuters] Thursday’s letter is the latest twist in an ongoing feud between IARC and two congressional committees. They began an investigation in 2016 after a number of IARC’s assessments - on substances such as coffee, mobile phones and processed meat cause cancer - sparked controversy.
Does IARC's Proposed Revision Of Its Preamble Signal A Real Change In The Agency's Behavior? [Forbes] A look at IARC’s recent record suggests that skepticism is in order.
	3.1 Prévention - Tabac
Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on 2017 National Youth Tobacco Survey results and ongoing FDA efforts to protect youth from the dangers of nicotine and tobacco products [FDA] While fewer youth are using cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products, we must do more to address the disturbingly high number of youth who are using e-cigarettes and vaping products.
	3.1.1 Prévention - Tabac - e-cigs
Exclusive: Philip Morris plans to target Indian smokers with iQOS device - sources [Reuters] India has stringent laws to deter tobacco use, which the government says kills more than 900,000 people every year. But the country still has 106 million adult smokers, second only to China according to the World Health Organization, making it a lucrative market for Philip Morris to target.
	3.3 Prévention - Vaccins
Merck Acknowledges Efforts by WHO, ACS, and NCI-Designated Cancer Centers to Reduce the Number of Men and Women Affected by HPV-related Cancers [Merck] “Merck is committed to working with the broader global public health and research community to continue to address the burden of certain HPV-related cancers around the world.”
American Association for Cancer Research Supports Goal of Eliminating HPV-related Cancers in the United States [AACR] Insufficient vaccination is a public health threat, and the AACR calls upon the nation’s physicians, parents, and young adults to take advantage of this opportunity to eliminate several different types of cancer in men and women.
	5. Traitements
Cure for a common turtle cancer takes a lesson from human cancers [Science] Just as some human cancers are best treated first by surgical removal of the tumor and then by chemotherapy, surgery and treatment with the anticancer drug fluorouracil reduced the reoccurrence of the sometimes deadly turtle cancer fibropapilloma from 60% to 18%, researchers report today in Communications Biology.
Fatal interstitial lung disease caused by Panitumumab-containing chemotherapy regimen [ecancer] After three courses of Modified De Gramont plus Oxaliplatin with Panitumumab, he was admitted with few days’ history of increasing shortness of breath. High-resolution computed tomography of the lungs showed the features of interstitial pneumonitis. Despite receiving appropriate treatment, he continued to deteriorate and died due to respiratory failure.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Novartis announces JCO publication of Lutathera® NETTER-1 data showing significantly longer time to deterioration of key quality of life measures in patients with progressive midgut NETs [Novartis] The data demonstrate that treatment with Lutathera provides significantly longer time to deterioration of quality of life for patients with progressive midgut Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) compared to octreotide LAR alone.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T, thérapies cellulaires
FierceBiotech BIO breakfast—CAR-T 2.0: Biomedical science at the cutting edge [FierceBiotech] And finally, one of the big caveats with CAR-T is that while it can produce some stellar results in blood cancer, in solid tumors, the evidence is far weaker, and getting it right here is part of the second or third generation of CAR-Ts.
New Insights to Improve CAR T Cells’ Safety [The Scientist] Drugs approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis block cytokines, the molecules responsible for severe side effects from the immunotherapy, and reduce symptoms in mice.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Ex-Takeda executive takes up CMO post at CD47 biotech Trillium [FierceBiotech] The biotech’s lead candidate is TTI-621, a SIRPaFc fusion protein designed to stop the CD47 signal tumor cells use to evade immune attacks. A clutch of other biotechs, including Arch Oncology and Forty Seven, are pursuing the same target in a belief it is the key to more effective treatment of a range of solid tumors and blood cancers.
Oncologie kicks off trans-Pacific operations with $16.5M in seed funding [FierceBiotech] “Since there are too many undifferentiated PD-1/PD-L1 programs in China with very few combination trials ongoing, Oncologie has positioned itself as the leader in immune combination therapies,” Wei said.
	5.2 Pharma
PARP battle heats up as Pfizer nabs priority review for talazoparib in breast cancer [FiercePharma] When AstraZeneca’s PARP inhibitor was approved to treat breast cancer, one of the company’s executives predicted BRCA testing upon diagnosis of the disease would become routine. That could boost Pfizer’s sales of talazoparib, to be sure, but it may not mute critics who still wonder if Medivation was worth $14 billion.
U.S. FDA and European Medicines Agency Accept Regulatory Submissions for Review of Talazoparib for Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients with an Inherited BRCA Mutation [Pfizer] Submissions Based on Data from EMBRACA, the Largest Phase 3 Trial Performed to Date of a PARP Inhibitor in BRCA-mutated MBC.
Mega-blockbuster? Pfizer lines up for a snap review of its PARP drug talazoparib — and a launch into a crowded market [EndPoints] At the time Medivation CEO David Hung was angling for a big premium in the buyout, he insisted that talazoparib was clearly going to be best in class in a field that now includes competing drugs from AstraZeneca, Tesaro and Clovis. Talazoparib, he told analysts, was a “multibillion-dollar opportunity.” That’s what Pfizer paid for, but it’s not likely what it will end up with.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
The Gates Foundation rolls outs details of its new biotech, one without a profit motive [STAT] With funding of $273 million for its first four years, the organization is in an enviable position.
Bill And Melinda Gates Start A Nonprofit Biotech In Boston [Forbes] Mundel says the new effort will be staffed almost entirely with industry vets, not academics. He says they had better lose sleep over the BCG project. The goal is to bring the advantages of industry into the public sector.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
AbbVie's Humira, Merck's Keytruda and more: The top 10 drugs of 2024 [FiercePharma] Humira will still hold pharma's sales crown in that year, according to the report, followed by Merck's Keytruda at $12.69 billion, Celgene's Revlimid at $11.93 billion, Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo at $11.25 billion and BMS and Pfizer's Eliquis at $10.54 billion.
Prostate cancer drug given initial ‘no’ for NHS in England [Cancer Research UK] Sir Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, called the decision “disappointing”. “Two clinical trials published last year provided compelling evidence of the huge potential benefit of abiraterone for these patients,” he said.
	5.5.4.5 ASCO (immunothérapies-CAR-T, thérapies cellulaires)
One cancer patient’s dramatic response to immunotherapy. But … [HealthNewsReview] Perkins was just one of three breast cancer patients in this Phase II clinical trial. One subject died of an infection and the other did not respond. This experimental approach is not currently available.
	5.5.8 ASCO (poumon)
How An Old Diabetes Drug Made A Big Splash At The Biggest Cancer Confab [Forbes] In a phase 2 trial in patients with stage 4 lung cancer, a 24-year-old diabetes drug significantly improved survival when added to a standard therapy. That drug, metformin, is used to lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetics. And because it went generic years ago, it generally costs pennies a pill.
	6.1 Observation
Older breast cancer patients in England less likely to survive than in four other European countries [Cancer Research UK] The fact breast cancer mortality in England is higher than in other countries in this study even for those women whose cancer is in its earliest stage suggests there is something more at play than just a failure to diagnose it early.
	6.11 Patients
I'm an oncologist who got breast cancer. This is what I learned [The Guardian] Cancer is not a battle, hair loss does matter – and even doctors like me can’t prepare for the effects of chemotherapy.
	6.6 Publications
Mapping the PID Landscape [ORCID] There are many other researcher workflows that would benefit from increased use of persistent identifiers, but to make this happen, everyone must play their part. We are on a mission to make this vision a reality - and we hope you’ll join us! Our PID Perfect campaign will be launching later this year.
	6.7.1 IA/bioinformatique
Artificial intelligence will improve medical treatments [The Economist] It will not imminently put medical experts out of work.