Onco Actu du 18 septembre 2018

	1.1 Biologie - Gènes
Scientists dig up cancer’s secrets buried in ‘gene deserts’ [Institute of Cancer Research] The team at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, used a technique called chromosome conformation capture to look at the three-dimensional shape of DNA when wrapped up in chromosomes.
	2. Etiologie
High levels of fertility-related hormone linked to increased breast cancer risk, new study finds [Institute of Cancer Research] The team examined blood samples from 5,957 premenopausal women from across the USA, the UK, Sweden and Italy, and found that those in the quartile with the highest levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in their blood were 60% more likely to develop breast cancer – both before and after menopause – when compared to those in the lowest quartile.
	2.10 Etiologie - Alcool
In response to critic, NIH alcoholism institute changes online explanation of cancer risk from drinking [STAT] The new description of the cancer risk of alcohol brings NIAAA’s website in line with the National Cancer Institute’s. Previously, in wording that dates to 2013, NIAAA’s website had said, “Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers.”
	3.1.1 Prévention - Tabac - e-cigs
Gottlieb to E-Cigarette Manufacturers: Reduce Youth Use or I Will END You [FDA Law Blog] In other words, if FDA decides the actions are insufficient, it could require manufacturers to remove some or all of their products until they receive premarket authorization.
	3.4.1 Chimioprévention - aspirine
Too soon to draw conclusions from new data finding no health benefit to aspirin [ACS] Randomized trials are currently ongoing to determine if aspirin can be useful could be helpful in treating patients with colorectal and certain other cancers. It should also be noted that the ASPREE study was too short to contradict previous scientific evidence that long-term aspirin use lowers risk of developing colorectal cancer.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
Pathology staff shortages causing delays to cancer diagnosis, says report [Cancer Research UK] The report concludes that staff shortages are contributing to NHS cancer diagnosis delays.Experts warned that, without Government action, these vital diagnostic services “could be in jeopardy”.
NCI and FDA Address Common Concerns: A Win–Win for Making Progress against Cancer [NCI] This challenge invites participants to propose solutions that address a serious and long-standing problem in the analysis of human samples: namely, the mislabeling of tissue samples caused by human error.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
New blood test detects early stage pancreatic cancer [Lund University] Pancreatic cancer is currently very difficult to detect while it is still resectable. A new blood test developed by researchers at Lund University in Sweden, Herlev Hospital, Knight Cancer Center and Immunovia AB, can detect pancreatic cancer in the very earliest stages of the disease. The results have been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Many cancer patients' relatives might get gene tests if price is right [Reuters] One limitation of the study is that researchers only followed people for a year, and it’s unclear how many relatives who got tested might go on to develop cancer. This type of testing often isn’t covered by insurance, and can cost hundreds of dollars.
The BRCA1 Gene: Trouble, Quantified [In the Pipeline] The next step, clearly, is to extend this approach to more of the BRCA1 sequence, and to try applying it to other targets. The first one should be pretty straightforward, but the second will depend on careful choice of the cell assay.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T, thérapies cellulaires
London biotherapeutics powerhouse launched by Cancer Research UK [Cancer Research UK] We need to understand why some patients respond to these new treatments while others don’t, and how to identify which patients might experience harmful side effects. Most importantly, we need to optimise their activity to offer more patients access to these therapies who may benefit. With this substantial new funding and world leading expertise, the Cancer Research UK City of London Centre is especially well placed to deliver on these promises.
Cancer Research UK launches new London Centre, infusing £14M into biotherapeutics work from leading institutes [EndPoints] Focusing on the type cancer treatment based on living cells — like CAR-T — the coalition will offer around 14 million patients the opportunity to take part in cutting-edge research as part of their treatment.
	5.2 Pharma
FDA lifts clinical hold from Mersana’s breast cancer trial [FierceBiotech] The speed with which Mersana reached an agreement about the changes with the FDA means the clinical hold has had little near-term effect on the progress of XMT-1522.
Mersana Announces FDA Lifts Partial Clinical Hold for XMT-1522 [Mersana] XMT-1522 is a Dolaflexin ADC targeting HER2-expressing tumors. XMT-1522 contains a proprietary HER2 antibody which is conjugated with Mersana’s Dolaflexin platform – a Fleximer polymer linked with a proprietary auristatin payload.
Mersana gets a boost as FDA offers a quick thumbs-up for its clinical plan to lift a partial hold [EndPoints] From the beginning, Mersana noted that the death may have been caused by XMT-1522, an antibody drug conjugate designed to drop a therapeutic payload on HER2-expressing tumors.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Patients with high-risk skin cancer have new treatment option [NICE] According to company estimates 427 people will be eligible for this treatment.
Targeted treatment for melanoma to be free on NHS [BBC News] The therapy, which has been approved by the health body NICE - the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence - is a combination of the drugs dabrafenib and trametinib which can be taken at home as five tablets a day.
	6.1 Observation
Risk of Developing Endocrinopathy Determined in Children and Young Adults after Radiotherapy for Brain Tumours [ESMO] Age-dependant dose response observed regarding radiotherapy for brain cancer and the development of subsequent endocrinopathy.
	6.11 Patients
Siblings affected by childhood cancer: ‘It’s one of those moments when time kind of stands still’ – Meg and Beth’s story [Cancer Research UK] In part 1 of a 3-part series, Meg and Beth share the story of their younger sister Eve, who was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma – a type of bone cancer – in July 2015. Eve sadly died on the 24th June 2017, aged only 11.
	6.12 Ethique
Harvard Professor's Attack On Pharma's Clinical Trials Is Absurd [Forbes] How did we go from a prominent physician’s lack of filing conflict-of interest forms to using key opinion leaders as sales reps and withholding clinical data? This is the problem with Dr. Angell’s views. They are not based on what really occurs these days in pharmaceutical R&D.
A color-coded document Baselga created to explain himself instead illustrated the extent of his confusion and exposure [The Cancer Letter] If the document he created in response to questions from reporters from The New York Times and ProPublica is an indication, Baselga was guided by a highly unconventional interpretation of disclosure requirements and was inconsistent in applying even his own version of these standards. As a result, all of Baselga’s 178 papers published between 2013 and now—while he was at MSK—may be tainted, experts say.
	6.3 Associations/Fondations
We need to drive up survival rates for the most aggressive cancers [The Telegraph] Last week saw the launch of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce (LSCT), which comprises six charities – Action Against Heartburn, the Brain Tumour Charity, the British Liver Trust, Guts UK, Pancreatic Cancer UK and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.
	6.5 Médecines alternatives/complémentaires
Aromatase inhibitors and acupuncture in breast cancer: Spinning a negative study [Respectful Insolence] Ms. Abbasi’s story appears to me to be in essence an attempt to spin a study with very unimpressive results and, when you come right down to it, failed to reach its primary endpoint. That doesn’t stop JAMA from taking what I view to be an extraordinary step.
	6.6 Publications
How Traditional Publishing Works [The Scholarly Kitchen] For traditional publishers editorial quality is the means to effect a sale, whereas for an OA service, that quality is epiphenomenal. OA is built upon the assumption of abundance, not of finite resources; over time the form of the publications of OA and traditional publishing will pull further and further apart.
	6.7.1 IA/bioinformatique
Google AI Tool Identifies a Tumor's Mutations From an Image [Wired] The algorithm can distinguish between different kinds of lung cancer, and could speed up a patient's diagnosis by weeks.
	6.7.2 Applis
Roche’s NAVIFY decision support portfolio unlocks relevant content from clinical trial and medical publication databases [Roche] Roche launches an app ecosystem with the first two clinical decision support apps.
	6.9 Controverses
The Cochrane Collaboration—what crisis? [BMJ Blogs] Maintaining—and funding—the “view from nowhere” requires delicate navigation of tricky political spaces and sometimes accepting hard-won compromises. Board members are presumably expected not to spit in the soup (especially when using Cochrane letterhead).
Mass resignation guts board of prestigious Cochrane Collaboration [Nature] David Hammerstein Mintz, a board member who stepped down in protest, said some members thought that Gøtzsche’s critical views of Cochrane were “disloyal”. “It might have been a headache, but the harm done by expelling Peter is much greater than any inconvenience caused by scientific debate,” he says.
Let’s stop the burning and the bleeding at Cochrane—there’s too much at stake [BMJ Blogs] Unlike almost everything I’ve ever written, this piece is a desperate personal plea to the many clever and cool heads within the extended Cochrane family to try and calm this crisis, heal the rifts, and turn this challenge into an opportunity to enhance public trust, not squander it.