Onco Actu du 14 septembre 2018

	1. Biologie
Cancer Cells Fuse with Immune Cells in Human Patients [The Scientist] The hybrid cells had a greater ability to migrate and invade in vitro compared to the unfused cancer cells, and when injected into mice, they more readily formed metastases compared to their nonhybrid cancer cell line counterparts. The researchers also observed spontaneous hybrid cells in mice injected with melanoma cells.
Putting Bone Metastasis in the Spotlight [NIH Director's Blog] The new system features an imaging window positioned next to the new bone, which enabled the researchers to produce the first series of direct, real-time micrographs of cancer cells eroding the interior of bone.
	2. Etiologie
Scientists Map Interactions between Head and Neck Cancer and HPV Virus [Gladstone] “The human proteins we found interacting with HPV are involved in both virus- and tobacco-related cancers, which means they could be potential targets for the development of new drugs or therapies.”
	2.10 Etiologie - Alcool
Health researcher calls on NIH to retract statement about alcohol and cancer risk [STAT] In his letter to Collins, Siegel asked, “Why would an agency whose mission is to reduce the harms of alcohol put millions of women at risk by lying to them and telling them that there is no increased breast cancer risk unless they drink excessively? Could it be that the NIAAA is in bed with the alcohol industry?”
	2.5 Etiologie - Gènes
Genetic testing could pick out people at three-fold increased risk of bone marrow cancer [Institute of Cancer Research] Together with previously identified areas of the genome, their findings explain part of the inherited risk of myeloma. The people classed as at highest risk based on the genetic information identified so far were at three times the risk of developing the disease as the average individual.
	3.1.1 Prévention - Tabac - e-cigs
Survey finds rapid increase in number of UK vapers [Reuters] An estimated 3.2 million people in Britain are now users of e-cigarettes, or vapes, compared with around 7.4 million who smoke tobacco cigarettes, according to data from a survey conducted by an anti-smoking charity.
	4.10 Dép., diag. & prono. - FDA, EMA, NICE,...
Blueprint for Breakthroughs - Charting the Course for Precision Medicine [FDA] As clinical testing gets more and more sophisticated, we need to make certain that we have the right regulatory framework in place to ensure that these new clinical tests—including ones that we cannot even envision today—are accurate, reliable, and safe. And that these tests are made accessible to patients as soon as possible.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Epic Sciences Raises $52M to Expand Cancer Diagnostic Portfolio [Xconomy] The San Diego-based company, which announced the close of the Series E round Wednesday, said it will use the proceeds to create additional blood tests, often referred to as liquid biopsies, to help guide clinicians in selecting the best course of treatment for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Genetic testing helps predict disease recurrence in myelodysplastic syndrome [WUSTL] Likelihood of recurrence high if mutations detectable after stem cell transplant.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Half of European studies fail to report results: BMJ [FierceBiotech] In a further bright spot for the industry, some pharma companies are reporting all of their trials, with the EUTrialsTracker currently shows that 11 major commercial sponsors are achieving 100% reporting.
Pharma companies outperform institutions in European clinical trial reporting amid problematic overall trends — Oxford study [EndPoints] The researchers didn’t technically count all the trials that were due to report. That’s because omissions and inconsistencies in trial completion dates made it impossible to determine whether a sponsor was compliant in 3392 cases — which makes up 29.4% of all trials marked “completed” or “terminated.”
	5.12.10 Immunothérapies - Fusions et acquisitions
Boehringer Ingelheim Acquires All ViraTherapeutics Shares to Develop Next Generation Viral-Based Immuno-Oncology Therapies [Boehringer Ingelheim] Oncolytic viral therapy is a cancer treatment approach with two modes of action. First, the virus specifically replicates in and kills cancer cells. Second, viral infection stimulates the immune system to recognize these same cancer cells, leading to immune-mediated killing of both infected and non-infected cancer cells, further enhancing tumor control.
Boehringer Ingelheim joins the crowd and goes all-in on oncolytic viruses, buying ViraTherapeutics in $244M deal [EndPoints] Boehringer first tied up with ViraTherapeutics just months ahead of Amgen’s landmark approval of T-Vec, the world’s first marketed oncolytic virus. And since then the field has exploded with new research projects as dozens of new players brewed up to beat the pioneer.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T, thérapies cellulaires
A Young Man's Experiment With A 'Living Drug' For Leukemia [NPR] The cancer has disappeared from parts of Reid's body, including his bone marrow. Also, the genetically modified immune cells are still evident in his body, she says, so they could continue to "attack the leukemia." That's the good news. But the pain Reid was struggling with earlier in the week turns out to have been an indication that in other areas his disease has worsened.
Engineered natural killer cells may be the next great cancer immunotherapy [Science] All these approaches could lead to off-the-shelf CAR NK cells that avoid the need to extract and modify a cancer patient's own cells.
	5.12.3 Immunothérapies-combinaisons
Viruses show new promise in treating cancer [Institute of Cancer Research] Currently, a number of viruses are being tested in clinical trials, but only one virus has been approved for general use, by injection directly to the tumour. The researchers hope that this study will help us gain a better understanding of how virus therapies work, so that they can be used in combination with other immunotherapies in future.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Roche CEO Refuses to Cede Cancer's Hottest New Field to Merck [Bloomberg] Merck’s immune therapy Keytruda has dominated the market, with analysts predicting it will deliver more than $10 billion in annual sales by 2020. Roche still believes it can be a leader in the field of drugs designed to unleash the body’s immune system against tumors, with positive results for its own contender Tecentriq coming at two conferences this fall.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
FDA provides update on its ongoing investigation into valsartan products; and reports on the finding of an additional impurity identified in one firm’s already recalled products [FDA] The FDA’s latest testing of products shows an additional unexpected impurity in three lots of Torrent Pharmaceuticals’ recalled valsartan drug products. This second impurity, N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) is a known animal and suspected human carcinogen.
Update on review of valsartan medicines [EMA] In line with EMA’s previous assessment, the life-time risk of cancer is considered low and is estimated to be in the order of 1 in 5,000 for an adult patient who had taken an affected valsartan medicine at the highest dose (320 mg) every day from July 2012 to July 2018.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
US FDA approves Lumoxiti (moxetumomab pasudotox-tdfk) for certain patients with relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukaemia [AstraZeneca] Approximately 1,000 people are diagnosed with HCL in the US each year.
AstraZeneca grabs an FDA OK for its new leukemia drug, to be marketed as Lumoxiti [EndPoints] The approval is another step up for a cancer research team that has been making some real headway with a group of new drugs that includes Lynparza and Tagrisso.
FDA approves new kind of treatment for hairy cell leukemia [FDA] Lumoxiti (moxetumomab pasudotox-tdfk)is a CD22-directed cytotoxin and is the first of this type of treatment for patients with HCL.
FDA approves AstraZeneca's drug for rare form of blood cancer [Reuters] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it approved AstraZeneca Plc’s treatment for hairy cell leukemia, a slow-growing type of blood cancer.
	5.5 ASCO
Multiple Financial Barriers Impede Patient Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials, According to New ASCO Policy Statement [ASCO] Recommended Path Forward Includes Steps that Will Address Payer Coverage for Clinical Trial Costs and Lack of Patient Support, Data, and Transparency.
	6.1 Observation
Cancer waiting times 'at worst level ever' in England [BBC News] In July, 78.2% were seen in that timeframe, the worst performance since records began in October 2009. It means more than 3,000 people waited longer than two months for treatment to begin. The target for the NHS is 85%, which was last hit in December 2015. The target is also being missed elsewhere in the UK.
	6.12 Ethique
Top Official at Memorial Sloan Kettering Resigns After Failing to Disclose Industry Ties [ProPublica] In his resignation letter released Thursday, Baselga, who also served as the physician-in-chief, said he feared that the matter would be a distraction from his role overseeing clinical care and that he had been “extremely proud” to work at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
	6.5 Médecines alternatives/complémentaires
Are crowdfunding sites promoting quack treatments for cancer? [NHS] The BMJ article highlights how UK media reports may also be contributing towards the promotion of expensive treatments that have a limited evidence base.
Crowdfunded cancer treatments - do they work? [BBC News] The crowdfunding figures were collected by the Good Thinking Society, a charity that promotes scientific thinking. The society's project director, Michael Marshall, said: "Many proposals refer to specific drugs that have been discredited, extreme dietary regimes, intravenous vitamin C, alkaline therapy and other alternative treatments."
	6.6 Publications
European countries demand that publicly funded research should be free to all [The Economist] Many scientists have championed the idea that publicly funded research should be available to all and not locked away in pricey journals. Although this “open access” ethos has become more popular in recent years, most researchers’ work remains fenced off by an online paywall. That may change with a radical European initiative unveiled earlier this month.
	6.9 Controverses
Prominent health policy researcher resigns from Dartmouth over plagiarism dispute [STAT] “The Dartmouth finding was that the paper represents ‘idea plagiarism’. This finding is at variance with both the United States Office of Research Integrity (whose definitions of research misconduct are identical to Dartmouth’s) and the NEJM, both of whom deemed this an authorship/credit dispute — not research misconduct or plagiarism.”