Onco Actu du 26 juillet 2018

	3.2 Prévention - Obésité
Obesity at record high in children aged 10-11 years [Cancer Research UK] Analysis of this data showed the number of children classed as severely obese has risen since 2006. Differences in children’s health were also observed across the country. Children in the most deprived areas were more likely to carry excess weight.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
In New Tool for Assessing Frailty Predicts Survival in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma [ASCO] Frailty index may inform treatment decision-making for older patients by incorporating functional and quality of life factors versus chronological age alone.
	4.10 Dép., diag. & prono. - Poumon
Dogs’ sensitive noses may be the key to early detection of lung cancer [The Conversation] Our goal is two-fold: we want to determine the potential for a scent-detection system for early lung cancer screening, and we hope to help develop a functional “electronic nose” for diagnosing lung cancer.
	5. Traitements
De-intensifying treatment for early thyroid cancer [STAT] Since most patients are unaware of the choices and the risks for treating thyroid cancer, clinicians must be driving this decision. Why would they steer people to the riskier procedure? It could be about money.
	5.1 Traitements - Pré-clinique
New strategy for cancer therapy spells double trouble for tumors [Sripps Research Institute] The study, published recently in Nature Communications, shows that a molecule in cells, called Rad52, repairs special kinds of damaged DNA that accumulate in some cancers. A future therapeutic could inhibit Rad52, robbing cancer cells of this repair mechanism.
Protein discovery may explain why some patients develop resistance to new class of anti-cancer drugs [University of Cambridge] In a study published in Nature Cell Biology, the team from the Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute show that Shieldin – so-called because it shields the ends of broken DNA – regulates DNA repair and could be a useful marker for identifying which patients are likely to respond poorly to PARP inhibitors.
Turbo-charging chemotherapy for lung cancer [Garvan Institute] Australian researchers discover a ‘two birds, one stone’ approach to overcome chemotherapy resistance and prevent kidney damage.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Takeda's also-ran ALK drug Alunbrig aims to challenge Pfizer with new first-line data [FiercePharma] Takeda picked up Alunbrig in its $5.2 billion Ariad buyout last year, and when the drug won FDA approval last April, CEO Christophe Weber said he believes the drug “will become a best-in-class ALK inhibitor … with the potential to achieve peak annual sales of over $1 billion.”
Takeda Announces Phase 3 Trial of ALUNBRIG® (brigatinib) Met Primary Endpoint Demonstrating Superiority in Progression-Free Survival Versus Crizotinib in Patients with ALK+ Advanced NSCLC Who are ALK Inhibitor Naïve [Takeda] The results from this interim analysis will be submitted for presentation at an upcoming medical meeting.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Merck's Keytruda shores up head and neck case with first-line trial win [FiercePharma] If Merck can win a new indication from the FDA, it could gain access to a patient pool that grows by about 63,000 U.S. cases per year. And that's a group Keytruda's rival, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo, can't currently treat: Its approval only extends to previously treated patients, at least for now.
Merck claims a needed win for Keytruda with interim OS data in head and neck cancer [EndPoints] The final results will also have a bearing on the whole checkpoint field, where experts have struggled to explain differing outcomes among PD-1s that were previously thought to have the same clinical profile.
KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) Monotherapy Met a Primary Endpoint in the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-048 Trial, Significantly Improving OS as First-Line Therapy in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Whose Tumors Expressed PD-L1 (CPS ≥20) [Merck] These results will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting and submitted to regulatory authorities worldwide. Based on the recommendation of the DMC, the trial will continue with no changes to evaluate KEYTRUDA monotherapy and KEYTRUDA in combination with platinum chemotherapy (cisplatin or carboplatin) plus 5-FU.
	5.12.7 Immunothérapies - vaccins
Making Personalized Cancer Vaccines Takes an Army—of Robots [Wired] Take a look inside the new manufacturing plant for Moderna Therapeutics, the Boston area-based biotech valued at $7 billion.
	5.2 Pharma
AstraZeneca’s selumetinib flops in thyroid cancer, adding to list of failures [FierceBiotech] Previous results from a midstage study of selumetinib in patients with advanced thyroid cancer showed “clinically meaningful increases” in iodine uptake and retention in patients with thyroid cancer that was refractory to RAI.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
A Note On 23andMe’s New Collaboration with GSK [23andMe Blog] Our top priority is our customer, and empowering each individual with the options to participate in research. As always, customers choose whether or not to participate in research. Customers can choose to opt-in or opt-out at any time.
GlaxoSmithKline makes $300M investment in 23andMe, forms 50-50 R&D pact [FierceBiotech] The partners plan to use 23andMe’s data to jointly discover drug targets. A joint GSK-23andMe team will then prioritize the targets based on the strength of the hypothesis, chances of drugging them and clinical opportunity.
23andMe Gets $300 Million Boost From GlaxoSmithKline To Develop New Drugs [Forbes] The companies will split costs and profits equally, and Glaxo will make a $300 million investment in 23andMe. The collaboration will last four years.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
FDA Publishes List of Surrogate Endpoints Used in Drug Approvals [RAPS] The list, which separates adult and pediatric endpoints, does not include composite endpoints that are a combination of biomarker surrogate endpoints and clinical endpoints. The table also does not include surrogate endpoints that may have been accepted for past drug development programs but are no longer acceptable as an endpoint to support registration.
Implementing the 21st Century Cures Act: An Update from FDA and NIH - Oral Statement [FDA] The use of surrogates for cancer can put promising treatments into the hands of high-risk patients years before they would’ve been available using previous endpoints, and, in some cases, increase the likelihood of a achieving a long-term remission. To advance this science, today we’re meeting one of our commitments under the Cures Act related to surrogates.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Paying for therapies that cure: innovative solutions needed [STAT] To be sure, contracts designed around an annuity approach or HealthCoin won’t be the magic bullet that aligns incentives, but they do represent the kind of beyond-the-system thinking needed as we move to a world where tomorrow’s innovation looks different than yesterday’s breakthroughs.
Pembrolizumab for classical hodgkin lymphoma [NICE] After considering the feedback from consultation, the Appraisal Committee has prepared a Final Appraisal Document (FAD) on Pembrolizumab for treating relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma and submitted it to the Institute.
NICE Recommends Pembrolizumab for Untreated PD-L1-positive Metastatic NSCLC [ESMO] The most plausible cost-effectiveness estimate for pembrolizumab compared with chemotherapy is within the range NICE normally considers acceptable for an end-of-life treatment. Therefore, it can be recommended as an option for untreated metastatic PD‑L1-positive (with at least a 50% tumour proportion score) NSCLC if treatment is stopped after 2 years.
	6.6 Publications
Third Retraction for Harvard Cancer Biologist [The Scientist] The paper, led by Harvard Medical School biologist Sam Lee, is among several publications from his group to be retracted. Molecular Cell and the Journal of Biological Chemistry have each withdrawn one of Lee’s studies in recent years due to “inappropriately assembled” data and figure manipulation, respectively.
Nature cancer paper that raised animal welfare concerns is retracted [Retraction Watch] “Selective killing of cancer cells by a small molecule targeting the stress response to ROS” has been cited 577 times, according to Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science — making it a “highly cited paper,” meaning it was ranked in the top 1 percent of all papers in its field for the year it was published. It’s been cited 257 times since its last correction was published in September 2015.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
Ex-Apple Health director is now working to fix medical records [CNBC] Sethi is the founder of Ciitizen, an early-stage start-up that's focused on helping people with cancer access their data. It's a deeply personal effort for Sethi, who left Apple late last year to care for his sister, Tania, as she was dying from breast cancer.