Onco Actu du 31 juillet 2018

	1. Biologie
Liver cancer cell ‘switch’ found that could improve future therapies [Imperial College London] The newly discovered ‘switch’ controls the activity of two proteins – ‘deleted in liver cancer-1’ (DLC1), a tumour suppressor, and talin. Both proteins control whether or not cancer cells spread to other parts of the body, but the exact mechanisms have remained unclear.
Scientists Discover a Dynamic Cellular Defense Against Breast Cancer Invasion [Johns Hopkins] The findings reveal that this cell layer, called the myoepithelium, is not a stationary barrier to cancer invasion, as scientists previously thought, but an active defense against breast cancer metastasis.
	3.1.1 Prévention - Tabac - e-cigs
E-cigarette maker Juul targeted teens with false claims of safety, lawsuit says [Washington Post] New lawsuits allege Juul Labs falsely advertised its e-cig, targeting youth in marketing campaigns and causing widespread nicotine addiction.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
At-Home Genetic Tests for Cancer: What You Need to Know [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] At this time, at-home genetic tests are not recommended as a health or cancer risk test. It is possible that the technology will improve in the future making the tests more conclusive and comprehensive, but for now, they work well for ancestry and recreational purposes, and not for cancer risk assessment.
	4.7 Dép., diag. & prono. - Col de l'utérus
FDA Approves Roche HPV Test for SurePath Collection Media [Genome Web] Becton Dickinson's SurePath preservative fluid is commonly used as a collection medium for Pap tests. The Cobas test is now approved for use as a primary screening test with SurePath and Hologic's ThinPrep PreservCyt Solution, the two liquid media used to collect samples for the vast majority of Pap or HPV tests in the US, Roche said.
Cervical screening issues causing delays for women in East [BBC News] Samples from the eastern region are taking up to 12 weeks to process by Cambridge University Hospitals. NHS England said it is "working closely" with screening labs to "free up additional capacity".
	5. Traitements
Agios’s Schenkein: “It’s not one disease. Just like lung cancer’s not one disease” [The Cancer Letter] No two AMLs are alike. And understanding the molecular driver of the disease allows one to come up with medicines that are precisely targeting that driver. The 20 percent of AML patients who carry the IDH mutation, either IDH2 or IDH1 are very different biologically than the patients who carry a FLT3 mutation or another different type of mutation.
OSU’s Byrd: “It’s becoming necessary to consult with an expert, because it is complicated, and things are moving” [The Cancer Letter] Local hospitals and hematologists in the community might treat this disease, particularly in the elderly, but it’s probably best getting help from somebody that focuses in AML, say, on a daily basis.
New drugs and new ideas are transforming AML [The Cancer Letter] In this issue, The Cancer Letter presents a case study in AML that examines change as it occurs—focusing on the roles of FDA, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, industry, and academic oncologists have played in developing new therapies. Since last April, FDA has approved five agents for the treatment of front-line and relapsed AML, with the most recent of these approvals announced last week.
	5.1 Traitements - Pré-clinique
Breast cancers enlist the help of normal cells to help them spread and survive [Garvan Institute] The researchers disrupted the hotline between CAFs and cancer cells by using a drug called SMOi, which targets CAFs and stops them from pushing tumour cells towards a ‘stem-like’ state (see below). In mouse models of triple negative breast cancer, treatment with SMOi reduced the spread of cancer, slowed tumour growth, increased sensitivity to chemotherapy and improved survival.
Cannabinoid improves survival rates of mice with pancreatic cancer [Queen Mary University of London] "We found that mice with pancreatic cancer survived nearly three times longer if a constituent of medicinal cannabis was added to their chemotherapy treatment. Cannabidiol is already approved for use in clinics, which means we can quickly go on to test this in human clinical trials."
	5.12.6 Immunothérapies - AMM
European backing for Merck's Keytruda rubs salt in Bristol-Myers' wounds [FiercePharma] Now, Merck will await final word on an important indication that’ll pad its lead on its immuno-oncology rivals, none of which can boast a first-line lung cancer nod on either side of the pond.
European Medicines Agency Adopts Positive Opinion for KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) Combination with Pemetrexed and Platinum Chemotherapy for the First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Nonsquamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer [merck] KEYTRUDA Combination Improved Overall Survival Compared with Pemetrexed and Platinum Chemotherapy Alone in Pivotal Phase 3 Trial (KEYNOTE-189). Positive Opinion for KEYTRUDA Also Adopted for Previously Treated Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (KEYNOTE-040).
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
Lilly firms up cancer collaboration with Dana-Farber [FierceBiotech] The relationship has already seen some staff movement between the two organizations, with Dana-Farber cancer genomics expert Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., taking over the role of senior vice president of global development and medical affairs for oncology at Lilly in 2016.
Lilly Announces Extension of Cancer Research Collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute [Lilly] Under the agreement, Dana-Farber researchers were, and will continue to be, granted permission to conduct independent pre-clinical and clinical studies on select Lilly compounds. All compounds evaluated through this collaboration will continue to be fully owned by Lilly. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
FDA outlines a laundry list of surrogate endpoints with an eye to expanding the roster for drug developers [EndPoints] The list, which will be updated every six months, features surrogate endpoints for numerous diseases including acromegaly, different cancers, chronic kidney disease, cystic fibrosis, hepatitis A, B and C, HIV, hypertension and osteoporosis, among others.
FDA will organize new review divisions around disease types, Gottlieb testifies [The Cancer Letter] To modernize drug development, FDA plans to add review divisions to its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and organize those divisions around disease types, FDA Commission Scott Gottlieb said July 25 to members of Congress in a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
Progenics Pharmaceuticals Announces FDA Approval for AZEDRA® (iobenguane I 131) to Treat Unresectable, Locally Advanced or Metastatic Pheochromocytoma or Paraganglioma [Progenics] The FDA approval of AZEDRA was based on data from a pivotal phase 2 open-label, multi-center trial that was conducted under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) with the FDA. The final results showed that 17 of the 68 evaluable patients (25%) experienced a 50% or greater reduction of all antihypertensive medication for at least 6 months, achieving the primary endpoint specified in the SPA.
FDA approves cancer radiation drug Azedra, sending Progenics stock north [EndPoints] Azedra is a new version of the radiopharmaceutical iobenguane I-131. It’s made using a system known as UltraTrace, which results in less non-radioactive iobenguane during enrichment leading to greater delivery of radiation to the tumor. The UltraTrace technology was developed by Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Progenics in early 2013.
FDA approves iobenguane I 131 for rare adrenal gland tumors [FDA] Approval was based on Study IB12B (NCT00874614), an open-label, single-arm, multicenter clinical trial in patients 12 years and older with iobenguane scan-positive, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma.
	6.1 Observation
UAB researcher finds risk of later death after donor blood, marrow transplant in childhood [University of Alabama at Birmingham] “This study shows that, while we are able to save the life of the child during their cancer treatment, we need to continue to provide proactive follow-up care with these types of patients throughout the rest of their life, as they are still an at-risk population.”
	6.5 Médecines alternatives
Complementary medicine use and cancer survival: A negative correlation [Respectful Insolence] It’s clear from numerous studies that alternative medicine does not have even a neutral effect on cancer survival; its effect is uniformly negative. This study strongly suggests that even just “integrating” such therapies into science-based oncology could have a pernicious effect on patient survival.
	6.8 Communication
Angelina Jolie’s surgeon peddles misinformation about…breast cancer! [Science-based Medicine] Dr. Kristi Funk is a surgeon to the stars in Beverly Hills who operated on Sheryl Crow and Angelina Jolie for breast cancer. This year, she published a book about breast health and breast cancer. Unfortunately, it’s full of misinformation and radical advice with little or no basis in science.
Problematic PR releases: Where’s the data? [HealthNewsReview] As we collected examples for this inaugural post, a pattern quickly emerged: There were lots of news releases that claim some new drug or intervention was shown to work in a study–yet no data whatsoever was provided to back up that claim.
	6.9 Controverses
Richard Smith: Measuring research impact—all the rage but hard to get right [BMJ Blogs] But how can research impact be measured? In contrast to measuring numbers of publications and citations, which is easy and can be automated, measuring impact (whatever it might be) is hard. Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary care in Oxford, has identified 21 different methods but said that they boiled down into three broad categories; economic, methods used by social scientists, and methods used by business schools.