Onco Actu du 13 novembre 2018

	1.4 Biologie - Technos
Engineering Biology, For Real? [In the Pipeline] My point is that if the nematode were a product of Silicon Valley, we would have more than enough information in hand by now to build one, reverse-engineering it like a new device or a pile of source code. But we can do no such thing. The nematode has been subjected to systematic, engineering-driven analysis fit to to Vijay Pande proud, but we cannot assemble a single one of those thousand cells.
	2.7 Etiologie - Obésité
Scientists shine new light on link between obesity and cancer [Trinity College] Our results highlight immuno-metabolic pathways as a promising target to reverse immune defects in obesity, and suggest that metabolic reprogramming of Natural Killer cells may kick-start their anti-cancer activity and improve treatment outcomes.
Fat-clogged cells explain why obesity can cause cancer [BBC News] Experts already suspected fat sent signals to the body that could both damage cells, leading to cancer, and increase the number of them. Now, the Trinity scientists have been able to show, in Nature Immunology journal, how the body's cancer-fighting cells get clogged by fat.
	3.3 Prévention - Vaccins
Australia is about to eradicate cervical cancer, US is nowhere close. What'll it take? [USA Today] For the Unites States to eradicate cervical cancer as Australia is on pace to do, we must include the HPV vaccine in the regular childhood vaccine schedule, and it should be required for enrollment in school.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
A $3 Billion Startup's Shares Gain On Hopes For A Cancer Blood Test [Forbes] The reason for the excitement: the hope that Guardant and companies like it could make it easier to treat cancer by detecting mutations that will reveal what drugs a tumor will respond to; that they will be able to detect cancer earlier when it recurs; and that, someday, companies like Guardant or rivals like Grail or Freenome will be able to develop blood tests that can detect cancer in healthy people, catching it early, when it can be treated easily.
	4.3 Dép., diag. & prono. - Industriels
Artificial intelligence decodes cancer pathology images [Novartis] Novartis researchers are collaborating with tech startup PathAI to search for hidden information in pathology slides.
	4.9 Dép., diag. & prono. - Sein
Latest European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer Recommendations [ESMO] The European Breast Guidelines provide women and healthcare providers with clear, objective and independent guidance on breast cancer screening and diagnosis. They guide healthcare managers and policy-makers in planning, organising and monitoring the effectiveness of services for breast cancer screening and diagnosis.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
France Begins Speeding Clinical Trial Start-Up Times [RAPS] Unlike the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Fast Track process, which is designed to expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need, France’s new designation concerns clinical trials of innovative treatments as well as new trials of known substances.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
Fecal Transplant Heals Colitis Caused by Immunotherapy [The Scientist] A case study of two patients with advanced cancer shows it might be possible to avoid a common and severe side effect of immunotherapy treatment.
In a paradox, obesity is a ‘net positive’ for cutting-edge anticancer drugs [Science] Leptin, a hormone made by fat cells, is one factor in the PD-1 excess, Murphy’s group found. Overweight animals and people produce high levels of the hormone, which normally signals the brain that the animal has had enough to eat. But leptin also affects the immune system, and the UC Davis team suspects it triggers a signaling pathway that increases PD-1 on T cells.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
FDA grants priority review to Roche’s Tecentriq in combination with Abraxane for the initial treatment of people with PD-L1-positive, metastatic triple-negative breast cancer [Roche] If approved, this Tecentriq (atezolizumab) combination would be the first cancer immunotherapy regimen for the treatment of PD-L1-positive, metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
	5.12.6 Immunothérapies - AMM
FDA Approves Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) for the Treatment of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Who Have Been Previously Treated with Sorafenib [Merck] Approval Marks 14 th Indication for KEYTRUDA.
Merck suits up for another Opdivo showdown with Keytruda liver cancer approval [FiercePharma] The agency based its decision on results from a phase 2 trial that showed Keytruda could provoke a response in 17% of patients. Among responders, 89% of patients felt the benefits of therapy for six months or more, and 56% experienced them for a year or more.
MSD’s Keytruda approved for liver cancer [PharmaTimes] Approval was issued on the back of data from the KEYNOTE-224 study, a single-arm, open-label, multicenter trial evaluating Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in 104 patients with HCC who had disease progression on or after sorafenib or were intolerant to sorafenib.
FDA Opens Door to New Response Criteria for Cancer Immunotherapies [BioCentury] “Our recommendation is that if protocols are seeking to use immune response criteria as a primary endpoint for registrational trials, we will evaluate [the design] for whether or not they’re adequately controlled, bias is minimized and case reports capture patient who receive treatment beyond progression, in order to determine whether or not they are adequate and well controlled trials,” she said. “It’s the data we need to move these criteria forward.”
	5.12.7 Immunothérapies - vaccins
Boehringer backs $33M cancer vaccine play at Switzerland’s AMAL Therapeutics [EndPoints] With a platform tech called KISIMA designed to pack a cell-penetrating peptide for antigen delivery, an adjuvanting TLR- peptide agonist and a multi-antigenic cargo into one single vaccine, the biotech says it is opening up a new class of cancer vaccines that can stoke an immune response in a broader spectrum of patients than the previous generation could.
	5.12.9 Immunothérapies - SITC
SITC 2018 Scientific Highlights - Nov. 11 [SITC] The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) is pleased to present scientific highlights from the Nov. 11, 2018, sessions of the 33rd Annual Meeting.
	5.2 Pharma
AstraZeneca, Merck's Lynparza scores speedy review in blockbuster ovarian cancer market [FiercePharma] The FDA has bestowed its priority review designation on the drug, setting it up for a billion-dollar opportunity—and a leg up on its PARP rivals. Regulators put the cancer-fighter in line for a speedy review Monday as a maintenance treatment for BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer patients who have finished an initial round of chemo.
The top 10 cancer drug makers of 2024 [FiercePharma] Look at 2017. The trio of drugmakers (Roche, Celgene and Bristol-Myers Squibb) held a 45.8% share of the market, with longtime cancer leader Roche controlling 26.4% all on its own. In 2024, though, market intelligence firm EvaluatePharma expects to see much more parity. The top three’s share will shrink to 26.2%, with Roche’s dropping all the way down to 11.9%.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
In China, Desperate Patients Smuggle Drugs. Or Make Their Own. [NY Times] Despite health insurance, terminally ill patients have to hunt around the world and on the internet for ways to stay alive.
	6.10 Politiques
The Prime Minister committed to diagnosing cancers earlier – so how many staff does the NHS need to get there? [Cancer Research UK] Based on our estimates, we think the NHS will need to double its cancer staff to cope with demand.
	6.6 Publications
Arguments over European open-access plan heat up [Nature] On 5 November, more than 600 researchers, including two Nobel laureates, published an open letter calling the plan “too risky for science”, “unfair”, and “a serious violation of academic freedom” for the scientists affected; more than 950 have now signed.
	6.7.2 Applis
‘We ran out of money’: High-profile startup seeking to connect patients with clinical trials shuts down [STAT] Driver scored partnerships with the National Cancer Institute and more than 30 cancer centers including top hospitals like the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. But none of those hospitals was paying Driver as part of the relationship. And the company never finalized any of the lucrative deals with other businesses — insurers, employers, and drug companies — that keep many health care startups afloat.