Onco Actu du 29 août 2018

	1. Biologie
Mass. General team finds how NF-2 gene mutations make cells hyper-responsive to growth factor signaling [Mass. General Hospital] In the current study, McClatchey’s team focused on the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), overactivation of which is involved in several important cancers.
In a Twist, Scientists Find Cancer Drivers Hiding in RNA, Not DNA [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center] Researchers at the Sloan Kettering Institute have found that changes in an information-carrying molecule called messenger RNA can inactivate tumor-suppressing proteins and thereby promote cancer. The findings pinpoint previously unknown drivers of the disease.
How Do Fruit Flies Grow Legs? Solving a Molecular Mystery [Columbia University] If we can use our enhancer method to systematically decode the regulation of EGFR activation, cancer researchers can then use that knowledge to identify potential targets for further development.
New Study Explains Why Genetic Mutations Cause Disease in Some People but Not in Others [Columbia University] Researchers at the New York Genome Center (NYGC) and Columbia University's Department of Systems Biology have uncovered a molecular mechanism behind one of biology’s long-standing mysteries: why individuals carrying identical gene mutations for a disease end up having varying severity or symptoms of the disease.
	2.10 Etiologie - Alcool
Study Causes Splash, but Here’s Why You Should Stay Calm on Alcohol’s Risks [NY Times] A chart in the study showed rising risks from alcohol from 0 to 15 drinks. Consider that 15 desserts a day would be bad for you. I am sure that I could create a chart showing increasing risk for many diseases from 0 to 15 desserts. This could lead to assertions that “there’s no safe amount of dessert.” But it doesn’t mean you should never, ever eat dessert.
	3.3 Prévention - Vaccins
One more time: HPV vaccination is not associated with primary ovarian insufficiency [Respectful Insolence] In other words, this study failed to find any evidence that HPV vaccination, or any of the other three vaccines studied, were associated with an increased risk of POI.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
A New Way to Detect Breast Cancer [NY Times] Mr. Shah and his colleague Matthew Campisi developed iBreastExam, a battery-operated wireless machine that records variations in breast elasticity. It’s hand-held and allows health care workers to perform breast examinations in five minutes, anywhere. Painless and radiation-free, it provides results just a few minutes after the exam through a mobile app, which also records patients’ data.
	5.1 Traitements - Pré-clinique
Stem cells show promise as drug delivery tool for childhood brain cancer [UNC School of Medicine] For the study, researchers reprogrammed skin cells into stem cells, and then genetically engineered them to manufacture a substance that becomes toxic to other cells when exposed to another drug, called a “pro-drug.” Inserting the drug-carrying stem cells into the brain of laboratory models after surgery decreased the size of tumors by 15 times, and extended median survival in mice by 133 percent. Using human stem cells, they prolonged life of the mice by 123 percent.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Researchers to Test Novel Drug Combination Against Toughest Breast Cancers [UC San Diego] Phase I clinical trial will combine standard chemotherapy with cirmtuzumab, a drug that has shown promise against a variety of cancer types.
Evaluation of Clinical Trial Costs and Barriers to Drug Development [Igea Hub] In the last decade, medical researchers have been evaluating more cost effective ways of conducting clinical trials and to fast-track clinical translation of new treatments. However, proving clinical effectiveness of new treatment -in a world of diverse potential patients- is becoming increasingly complex. Many companies are then faced with the task of recruiting even more patients at multicenter sites. This automatically translates to increased costs of clinical trial.
Researchers find a way to mimic clinical trials using genetics [MIT Technology Review] A technique called Mendelian randomization could be the revolutionary tool drug companies have been waiting for.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Molecular Insights in Clinical Responses to PD-1 Inhibition in Metastatic Gastric Cancer [ESMO] Molecular characterisation of tissues and circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) from 61 patients with metastatic gastric cancer who were treated with anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab as salvage treatment in a prospective phase II clinical trial provides insight into the features associated with response to the therapy.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
Affimed lands big, backloaded immunotherapy deal with Genentech, sending its stock into overdrive [FierceBiotech] Affimed has built its business upon a platform that generates multispecific NK and T cell engagers. The drugs are designed to redirect innate and adaptive immune cells and thereby orchestrate attacks on tumors.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T, thérapies cellulaires
Gilead CAR-T drug Yescarta turned away by NICE cost-effectiveness watchdogs [FiercePharma] Oftentimes, NICE will reject expensive drugs initially and strike a deal after further negotiations. That’s not always the case, though, and the agency’s reviews have irked pharma as innovative-but-pricey drugs exceed the agency’s cost-effectiveness thresholds.
Feedback encouraged to allow use of life extending treatment on NHS for those with blood cancer [NICE] The committee concluded the cost-effectiveness estimates for axicabtagene ciloleucel compared with salvage chemotherapy (the treatment currently used for people whose disease has returned or not improved after 2 or more courses of chemotherapy) were above £50,000 per year of quality adjusted life (QALY) gained, the upper limit of the specially extended range of cost-effectiveness for cancer treatments.
UK rejects Gilead's CAR-T cancer cell therapy as too expensive [Reuters] Raj Chopra, head of cancer therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said the NICE rejection was disappointing for patients. “If we’re going to see CAR-T therapy widely available on the NHS, we need to find ways to reduce the costs,” he said.
Axicabtagene ciloleucel for treating diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma after 2 or more systemic therapies [NICE] Axicabtagene ciloleucel is not recommended, within its anticipated marketing authorisation, for treating relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma in adults after 2 or more systemic therapies.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
European Commission approves Novartis combination therapy Tafinlar® + Mekinist® for adjuvant treatment of BRAF V600 mutation-positive melanoma [Novartis] This approval is the third for Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist in Europe across a variety of tumor types identified with a high level of BRAF mutation.
Vyxeos® Receives Marketing Authorisation in the European Union for Treatment of Certain Types of High-Risk Acute Myeloid Leukaemia [Jazz Pharmaceuticals] Vyxeos is an advanced liposomal formulation that delivers a synergistic molar ratio of daunorubicin and cytarabine.
	5.6 ESMO
Men and women are different: Why medical oncology needs to restate the obvious [ESMO Press Release] At the ESMO workshop, “Gender medicine meets oncology”, to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 November and 1 December 2018, a multidisciplinary faculty of experts will discuss the concepts and methods of gender medicine and their implications for clinical practice and research in oncology.
	6.1 Observation
CDC: Mouth area now most common site of HPV-linked cancer [University of Minnesota] Cervical cancer was the most common type of HPV-linked cancer in 1999, with 13,125 cases, while oropharyngeal cancer cases numbered 9,375, with 74% of them in men. By 2015, oropharyngeal cancer cases outnumbered cervical cases by 18,917 to 11,788, with 82% (15,479) of the oropharyngeal cases in males.
	6.10 Politiques
A no-deal Brexit will betray British science [The Guardian] The UK has coordinated more Horizon 2020 projects than any other country to date, and has a hard-earned reputation for effective project leadership. In a no-deal Brexit, this leadership role is stone cold dead. That prospect is impacting projects being prepared right now.
Help to shape policy with your science [Nature] Decision-makers need input from researchers on issues involving science and society.
	6.11 Patients
The realities of cancer - Mental health issues and changes to energy levels top concerns among cancer patients [Cancer Research UK] The new data reveals that almost three in 10 (29%) cancer patients surveyed have experienced mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, whilst one in ten (11%) respondents have sought advice from a mental health professional.
	6.6 Publications
Best Match: New relevance search for PubMed [PLoS Biology] Since its deployment in June 2017, we have observed a significant increase (60%) in PubMed searches with relevance sort order: it now assists millions of PubMed searches each week.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
Integra Connect Becomes CancerLinQ Platform’s First Certified Electronic Health Record [ASCO] Integra Connect delivers a comprehensive, integrated suite of cloud-based technologies and services that enable community oncologists to optimize clinical and financial performance as reimbursement shifts to value-based models and precision medicine.
	6.9 Controverses
Opinion: Expansion fever and soft money plague the biomedical research enterprise [PNAS] Although external funds remain scarce, research universities must act to protect science from soft money and expansion, both of which they control directly. Can academic institutions rescue biomedical research and the next generation of investigators? Yes, but the task will be hard and slow, and success will be piecemeal, not sweeping.