Onco Actu du 4 octobre 2018

	1. Biologie
Study Resolves Decades-Long Mystery About the Most Commonly Mutated Gene in Cancer [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] A recent study by researchers at Dana-Farber, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and other institutions reveals that hotspot mutations aren’t so special, after all. They are no more cancer-promoting than many other mutations, and are simply artifacts of the processes by which cells acquire mutations.
	4. Dépistage, diagnostic et pronostic
High-risk HPV linked to improved survival in cervical cancer [Karolinska Insitutet] The researchers believe that high-risk HPV can be another important prognostic marker that can inform the choice of therapeutic strategy.
	4.1 Dép., diag. & prono. - Prostate
Early PSA Testing Could Help Predict Prostate Cancer among Black Men [Moffitt Cancer Center] Researchers selected black men within the SCCS cohort who were aged 40 to 64 at time of enrollment during 2002-2009. At entry into the SCCS, they were free of cancer diagnosis. Linkage with state cancer registries allowed the researchers to identify 197 within this group who had developed prostate cancer by 2015, 91 of whom had aggressive disease (advanced stage, high grade or death attributed to prostate cancer).
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Matt Hancock announces ambition to map 5 million genomes [GOV.UK] The NHS Genomic Medicine Service is the first national genomic healthcare service in the world and will allow faster diagnosis and personalised care.
Oregon flirts with—and quickly abandons—plan to deny Medicaid payment for next-generation sequencing [The Cancer Letter] “I want to thank everyone who spoke up to make sure that NGS for patients with cancer is covered by Oregon Medicaid,” Brian Druker, director of the Knight Cancer Institute at the Oregon Health & Science University, said to The Cancer Letter. “Your voices were clearly heard and I applaud the committee for ensuring that our most vulnerable patients have access to this cutting edge technology.”
	5. Traitements
Could less deadly therapies be a better way to keep cancer in check? [ecancer news] While many cancer therapies initially can be very successful, tumours often return and spread when remaining cancer cells develop resistance to treatment. To combat this tendency, Frédéric Thomas of the French National Centre for Scientific Research proposes that cancer researchers take a lesson from our own immune system and explore "natural adaptive therapies."
	5.1 Traitements - Pré-clinique
New computer model designs a drug delivery strategy to fight cancer [Stanford Medicine] The researchers said that because cancers can be very different, the shapes and sizes of nanoparticle delivery systems may have to be tailored to the specific tumor. Unlike previous models, which oversimplified nanoparticle shapes, the researchers say their model is expected to help drug designers accurately predict the optimal particle shape and size in order to most effectively treat the tumor.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
Kristine Rasmussen and Andreas Lundh: Shining a light on industry collaboration [BMJ] The academic community should refuse to collaborate when industry demands control over trials.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
For Small Cell Lung Cancer, Immunotherapy Drug Finally Brings Improved Survival [NCI] Although the survival improvement was modest, the researchers hailed the positive survival findings as an important advance for the treatment of this intractable cancer.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
Kite adds to T-cell receptor platform with HiFiBiO deal [FierceBiotech] The biotech has been working in the neoantigen/TCR space for some time through a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to discover mutations in oncogenes such as KRAS that can be targeted with T-cell therapies.
Kite and HiFiBiO Therapeutics Announce a Research Collaboration to Develop Technology for the Potential Discovery of Neoantigen-Reactive T Cell Receptors (TCRs) for the Treatment of Cancer [Gilead] Kite and HiFiBiO intend to adapt HiFiBiO’s proprietary single cell technology platform to create a high throughput approach that will potentially allow for the in-depth screening of TCR repertoires from patient samples to identify shared antigen and neoantigen TCRs for use in adoptive cellular therapies.
	5.2 Pharma
Clovis' Rubraca pulls ahead of rivals in prostate cancer with 'breakthrough' nod [FiercePharma] Rubraca could own the prostate cancer market, at least at first, Leerink analyst Andrew Berens noted for investors Wednesday morning—a position that pad its sales by $580 million. The company has said it plans a submission for the new use in the second half of 2019.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
Eli Lilly’s CDK 4 and 6 inhibitor Verzenios has been approved in Europe for the treatment of certain metastatic breast cancers. [PharmaTimes] The applications were based on the Phase III MONARCH 2 and 3 trials. In MONARCH 2, adding Verzenios (abemaciclib) to AstraZeneca’s Faslodex (fulvestrant) significantly improved progression-free survival compared to Faslodex plus placebo, with figures of 16.4 months versus 9.3 months, respectively.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
Preliminary NICE ‘no’ for Takeda’s Alunbrig [PharmaTimes] Also, the most plausible cost-effectiveness estimates for Alunbrig compared with ceritinib are more than £50,000 per QALY, and thus above what the Institute normally considers acceptable for an end-of-life treatment, and so it could not be recommended for routine use on the NHS.
This brand-new advocacy group is an unapologetic defender of high drug prices [STAT] It’s not clear who funds the group, or even who is running the group’s day-to-day operations. The group’s website includes no information on funding nor a staff directory, and the group did not respond to immediate request for comment from STAT.
	6.1 Observation
Alzheimer’s risk gene linked to post-chemo cognitive decline [FierceBiotech] “It is not that the chemotherapy causes Alzheimer’s disease, but that these patients may be at risk for both cancer-related cognitive problems and Alzheimer’s—perhaps through a process of accelerated aging or other shared disease processes,” said Georgetown geriatrician Jeanne Mandelblatt, M.D., who co-led the study.
Most older breast cancer patients do not suffer mental decline after chemo [Reuters] Among those who did experience declines, most carried a genetic mutation, APOE4, that has been linked to a heightened risk for Alzheimer’s disease, said the study’s lead author.
	6.10 Politiques
Standing by France's social contract: Macron's health reform [The Lancet] This reform sends a strong message on the international stage. In a time of increased economic and political uncertainty, by positioning himself steadfastly on the side of the foundation of France's social contract—the provision of health as a human right—Macron shows that France stands by its fundamental principles.
Theresa May’s commitment to diagnosing cancers earlier is great news. She’ll need more NHS staff to get there [Cancer Research UK] As we’ve blogged about before, 1 in 10 posts for diagnostic NHS staff are vacant and we’re campaigning for workforce shortages to be addressed. Plugging these gaps, and planning for the right number of staff for the future, will be crucial to achieving earlier diagnosis for all.
	6.14 Prix Nobel
Chemistry Nobel awarded to evolutionary scientists whose work led to cancer, arthritis drugs [STAT] Joining a press conference with reporters by phone, Arnold was asked what “playing with evolution” means. “I get that question a lot,” she said.
The Chemistry Nobels, 2018 [In the Pipeline] There’s still a great deal of chance and luck involved in these studies, but that’s not a complaint: chance and luck are what got us the proteins that are keeping us alive right now.
Frances Arnold Wins 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry [Caltech] "Life—the biological world—is the greatest chemist, and evolution is her design process," says Arnold. "I may not be the best chemist but I do appreciate evolution."
NIH grantees win 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry [NIH] Both Drs. Arnold and Smith each have received more than $2.5 million, primarily from NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Dr. Smith’s early work was also funded by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
‘Revolution based on evolution’ honored with chemistry Nobel [Science] “I didn’t have any idea [the technique] would be so commercially successful,” Winter said at a press conference in Cambridge today. “In the 1990s, the pharmaceutical industry was run by chemists. To them, a drug was a chemical. They didn’t believe antibodies would be therapeutics.”
Frances H Arnold, George P Smith and Gregory P Winter win Nobel prize in chemistry [The Guardian] Arnold’s work has made it possible to cut out the use of many toxic catalysts, providing enzymes for all manner of fields including the development of biofuels and the production of pharmaceuticals.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 [Nobel Prize] The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind. Enzymes produced through directed evolution are used to manufacture everything from biofuels to pharmaceuticals. Antibodies evolved using a method called phage display can combat autoimmune diseases and in some cases cure metastatic cancer.
Use of Evolution to Design Molecules Nets Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 3 Scientists [NY Times] Dr. Winter said earlier in his career, before his work using bacteriophages for developing antibody medicines, he pursued basic scientific understandings of evolution — science for the sake of science. He succeeded in tweaking a mouse antibody to work inside humans. It was then tested as a treatment for a woman with cancer.