Onco Actu du 30 août 2018

	1. Biologie
Cancer Cells Are Even Worse Than We Thought [In the Pipeline] Cancer cell lines tend to be genomically unstable in general, which is a problem, but here are the numbers for just how much of a problem that is. This team looked at 106 tumor cells lines and found that there’s a very large amount of heterogeneity in them when examined closed (deep sequencing, RNA-seq, cell painting assay, and more).
	2.10 Etiologie - Alcool
Is one drink per day really unsafe? That new alcohol study, explained. [Vox] “But while the paper is so nice and so useful [at estimating alcohol’s disease burden],” Stanford meta-researcher John Ioannidis told me, “at the last moment it destroys everything.” Instead of focusing on the message about the dangers of excessive drinking, “it focuses on making a claim that no alcohol use is safe.”
	3.1.1 Prévention - Tabac - e-cigs
Did Juul Lure Teenagers and Get ‘Customers for Life’? [NY Times] The e-cigarette company says it never sought teenage users, but the F.D.A. is investigating whether Juul intentionally marketed its devices to youth.
	3.3 Prévention - Vaccins
Vaccine tied to drop in HPV cases still not reaching half of U.S. kids [Reuters] Last year, nearly 66 percent of youth ages 13 to 17 received the first dose to start this vaccination series, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. But just 49 percent of teens received the two or three doses needed to be fully vaccinated against HPV.
	3.8 Prévention - Alimentation
Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on FDA’s support for exempting coffee from California’s cancer warning law [FDA] Simply put, if a state law purports to require food labeling to include a false or misleading statement, the FDA may decide to step in.
Coffee Doesn't Deserve California’s Cancer Risk Warning, FDA Says [Bloomberg] Such a label “could mislead consumers to believe that drinking coffee could be dangerous to their health when it actually could provide health benefits,” Gottlieb said. Misleading labeling could also violate federal law, he said.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Genetic ‘weather forecasting’ could predict bowel cancer’s response to treatment [Institute of Cancer Research] Our study showed that liquid biopsies are better than traditional tissue biopsies at picking out people with bowel cancer whose tumours are unlikely to respond to a drug called cetuximab. We also found that analysing tumour DNA from frequent blood samples, which are already taken throughout a person’s treatment, can help predict cancer’s next move.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
CNIO researchers find the first indicators of prognosis for the most aggressive type of breast cancer [CNIO] They have identified six protein kinases whose functional status predicts the evolution of triple negative breast cancer. Their research shows that patients in whom these six kinases are inactive have a higher probability of being cured. However, if any of these kinases is active, the risk of relapse increases ten-fold.
	5.1 Traitements - Pré-clinique
A “non-canonical” strategy may improve cancer radiotherapy [University of Chicago] The host immune system seems to have a lot to do with whether or not radiation works. So by blocking that alternative pathway, rather than the pathway everyone’s been focusing on, we think we can get better radio-sensitizing agents, and better results.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Researchers lay the foundation for personalized immune treatments for leukemia [UNC] “We’ve developed a software package that predicts leukemia-specific immune targets in any leukemia patient undergoing a stem cell transplant based on DNA and RNA sequencing and demonstrated that these data can lead to actual targets expressed on leukemia cells,” Vincent said. “The next step of our work is to use that information for patient-specific therapies to try to improve cure rates without making graft-versus-host disease worse.”
Combination approach shows promise for beating advanced melanoma [UCLA] The research showed that using the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab and the experimental agent SD-101, a sequence of nucleic acids that mimics a bacterial infection, altered the microenvironment around the tumor in a way that enabled the immune system to more effectively attack the cancer.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Novartis to create 450 new jobs at Aargau site after Kymriah thumbs up [Pharmafile] While the company cut 500 jobs in Basel last year, the pharma giant plans to create 260 new jobs initially with the potential for a total of 450 new jobs to be created by 2021. The first batches of drugs manufactured by the plant are set to be distributed in Switzerland and the European Union within the next two years.
	5.2 Pharma
Sophiris says it’s ready to get back on track with lead drug after patient death — but questions linger [EndPoints] The San Diego-based biotech says the researchers involved have concluded that their patient had likely died as a result of “sudden cardiac death probably due to an arrhythmia…The investigator and the company concur that the event is unlikely related to topsalysin or the procedure.”
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
FDA Launches Pilot Program in Support of Complex Trial Designs for Drugs and Biologics [RAPS] Plans to launch the pilot were first discussed during a public meeting in March, though certain concerns were raised by stakeholders such as Genentech and Biogen regarding flexibility and scope.
FDA’s Comprehensive Effort to Advance New Innovations: Initiatives to Modernize for Innovation [FDA Voice] As part of this effort, we’re also launching a complex innovative designs (CID) pilot meeting program to facilitate the advancement and use of novel clinical trial designs.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
European Commission Approves BLINCYTO® (blinatumomab) For Use In Pediatric Patients With Philadelphia Chromosome-Negative Relapsed Or Refractory B-Cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia [Amgen] Approval Based on Data From the Phase 1/2 '205 Study.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
NICE u-turn recommends Ipsen’s Cabometyx for kidney cancer [Pharma Times] In a Final Appraisal Determination, the cost watchdog concluded that the drug can be used as a first-line treatment for adults with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
	6.1 Observation
Study Provides Closer Look at Postmenopausal Bleeding and Endometrial Cancer [NCI] In the largest analysis to date looking at the extent to which vaginal bleeding is associated with endometrial cancer in women who have gone through menopause, 90% of women diagnosed with endometrial cancer reported bleeding before their cancer diagnosis.
	6.3 Associations/Fondations
Sir Harpal Kumar: A spotlight on 15 years of progress against cancer [Cancer Research UK] As part of our 2017/18 Annual Review, which we published today, we spoke with Harpal about how things have changed in the world of cancer research during more than 15 years at the Charity. Here are his highlights.
	6.5 Médecines alternatives/complémentaires
NIH names Dr. Helene Langevin director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health [NIH] As the principal investigator of several NIH-funded studies, Dr. Langevin’s research interests have centered around the role of connective tissue in low back pain and the mechanisms of acupuncture, manual and movement-based therapies.
	6.6 Publications
Opening up peer review [Nature] A transparent process to publish referees’ reports could benefit science, but not all researchers want their assessments made available.
	6.7.1 IA/bioinformatique
With an eye to AI and autonomous diagnosis [npj Digital Medicine] The clinical research community has also got blind spots. In particular, there is a lack of awareness of the so-called 'AI Chasm', that is the gulf between developing a scientifically sound algorithm and its use in any meaningful real-world applications.
	6.7.3 DMP
Using a New EHR System to Increase Patient Engagement, Improve Efficiency, and Decrease Cost [NEJM Catalyst] In 2016, the leadership team of the Perioperative Anesthesia Assessment Center (PAAC) at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center proposed a study to evaluate the effects of engaging the active participation of patients in documenting their own health information into a new EHR. We hypothesized that this active participation would have multiple positive effects on health care delivery as it would decrease data-entry time for providers and would help to guide individual patient-centered care.
	6.9 Controverses
Bosses at leading UK science institute accused of bullying staff [The Guardian] Complaints by 10 former and current staff members at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge focus on some of the centre’s most senior management, including the director, Sir Michael Stratton.