Onco Actu du 7 septembre 2018

	1. Biologie
Same mutations underpin spread of cancer in individuals [Stanford Medicine] The true driver mutations of cancer are almost always common to all metastases in an individual, according to a Stanford scientist and other researchers.
Metastatic Tumors in Individual Patients Share Driver Mutations [Genome Web] Reiter and his colleagues from Stanford, Harvard, and elsewhere turned to cancer phylogenetic analyses to retrace mutation events in primary tumor and untreated metastatic tumor samples from 20 individuals with skin, breast, colorectal, endometrial, gastric, lung, pancreatic, or prostate cancers, distinguishing between so-called MetTrunk drivers shared between metastases and MetBranch mutations found in just a subset.
The Soil for the Seeds: Investigating the Microenvironment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia [Cancer Research Catalyst] According to Mundy-Bosse, this lack of efficacy among the larger population of cancer patients emphasizes the critical need to improve our understanding of how the microenvironment should be altered to improve the success of not only current, but also future, immune-based therapeutics.
	3.1.1 Prévention - Tabac - e-cigs
Don't send vapers to use smoking shelters, MPs suggest [BBC News] On Thursday, MPs debated a report on e-cigarettes, by the science and technology MPs' committee, which suggested that e-cigarettes were too often overlooked by the NHS as a tool to help people stop smoking.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Matching Cancer Patients to Targeted Drugs: Two New Tools [DNA Science Blog] One is a machine learning tool called Cerebro, the other a scale for physicians to rank the evidence that a particular targeted treatment will work against a tumor with specific mutations.
	4.5 Dép., diag. & prono. - Colorectal
Why one woman’s emotional plea for early colon cancer screening may harm instead of help [HealthNewsReview] The news coverage is a classic case of muddling the distinction between diagnosis and screening, and it could expose readers to unnecessary costs and harms that almost certainly outweigh any benefit from expanded testing for colon cancer.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T, thérapies cellulaires
Atara Biotherapeutics And Moffitt Cancer Center Announce Strategic Collaboration To Develop Next-Generation Car T Immunotherapies [Atara] Collaboration includes novel CAR T targeting and signaling domains designed to optimize T cell proliferation and enhance persistence.
Allogene raises another $120M for off-the-shelf CAR-T programs [FierceBiotech] The additional resources will help the south San Francisco company meet its goal “to maintain our leadership in allogeneic CAR-T therapy and be the first company to develop and commercialize an allogeneic CAR-T product,” he said. The aim is to develop cell-based therapies for cancer that come from donor cells, rather than those harvested from the patient.
Allogene Therapeutics Completes a $120 Million Private Financing [Allogene] In partnership with Servier, UCART19 is in Phase 1 development for the treatment of relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Atara brings another experienced investigator onto its off-the-shelf CAR-T quest in latest collaboration [EndPoints] Atara’s most advanced program, tabelecleucel, or tab-cel, is being developed for patients with EBV-associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, as well as other EBV-associated hematologic and solid tumors, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma).
New investors pool $120M to bankroll Allogene’s off-the-shelf CAR-T pipeline in drive to stay in the lead [EndPoints] Instead of a lengthy and expensive personalized autologous approach that requires the extraction and reengineering of patient cells into a potent therapy that has proved particularly effective in blood cancers, Allogene is looking to perfect a gene editing process that can develop 50 to 100 therapeutic batches from a single donor. If it works, it will be cheaper and faster than the first CAR-Ts, Yescarta and Kymriah.
A new CAR-T is credited with a ‘surprising’ impact in tiny study of advanced liver cancer — raising hopes on solid tumors [EndPoints] The treatment, dubbed ET140202, works by targeting a liver cancer marker called alpha-fetoprotein, or AFP.
Eureka Therapeutics Achieves Regression Of Metastatic Liver Cancer Using Et140202 T-Cell Therapy [Eureka Therapeutics] The findings from the proof-of-concept first-in-human study, which is being conducted at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’An Jiaotong University in China, demonstrated a favorable safety profile of ET140202 T-cell therapy in six patients with no observed cytokine release syndrome (CRS) or drug-related neurotoxicity. In addition, one patient in the i.v. arm of the study had a complete response. Overall, tumor regression was observed in three out of six patients.
T cells engineered to home in on brain cancer [Nature] Immunotherapies activate T cells to destroy tumours, but the approach has failed in some brain cancers. A strategy to improve migration of T cells across the blood–brain barrier could overcome this limitation.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Roche's Tecentriq hits a lung cancer slowdown in its bid to challenge Merck [FiercePharma] Even if Roche can pick up a green light for its Tecentriq regimen, analysts don't think it’ll measure up favorably against Merck’s leader.
In a rare delay for the fast PD-1/L1 crowd, FDA tells Roche to wait on its Tecentriq/Avastin triple for lung cancer [EndPoints] Roche, which is playing the distant third-place position in the checkpoint field behind Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb, had posted what appeared like a sure thing in this field. And they need it, with their revenue still only a fraction of what the leaders command.
	5.12.7 Immunothérapies - vaccins
Scientists test new cancer vaccine against melanoma [Scripps] The researchers demonstrated that adding a molecule called Diprovocim to a vaccine can draw cancer-fighting cells to tumor sites. Their experiments in mice with melanoma suggest these vaccines could increase chances of recovery in cases where a drug therapy alone is not working.
	5.12.8 Immunothérapies - Economie
NICE Issues Evidence Based Recommendations on Pembrolizumab for Treating Relapsed or Refractory Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma in Adults [ESMO] More evidence on pembrolizumab is being collected, until July 2022. After this NICE will decide whether or not to recommend it for use on the NHS and update the guidance. It will be available through the Cancer Drugs Fund until then.
	5.13 WCLC
Data from Merck’s Leading Lung Cancer Research Program with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) to be Presented at IASLC 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer [Merck] More than 20 abstracts with KEYTRUDA in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), and mesothelioma have been accepted for presentation.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
SpringWorks names a CEO, inks a combo therapy deal with BeiGene [FierceBiotech] The deal centers on SpringWorks’ MEK inhibitor PD-0325901 and BeiGene’s RAF dimer inhibitor, lifirafenib (BGB-283), which they will test in patients with advanced solid tumors that have RAS and RAF mutations, and other MAPK aberrations.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Harvard Spinout 28-7 Launches with $65M for MicroRNA Cancer Drugs [Xconomy] The small molecule drug targets an RNA-modulating protein called Lin28. This protein modulates an ncRNA called Let-7, which suppresses tumor activity. By blocking the activity of Lin28, the company says, it hopes its drug can raise Let-7 levels and, in turn, treat cancer.
	6.10 Politiques
Government talks to drug companies about Brexit stockpiling [The Guardian] The government is in talks with drug companies about funding the extra costs of stockpiling and flying in vital medicines in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the health secretary has revealed.
	6.7 DMP, Big Data & applis
CancerLinQ® Signs Major Health Care System as New Participating Practice [ASCO] Stanford Health Care includes Stanford Cancer Institute which is designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).