Onco Actu du 28 novembre 2018

	1.4 Biologie - Technos
Largest study of CRISPR-Cas9 mutations creates prediction tool for gene editing [Sanger Institute] Prediction resource could make CRISPR-Cas9 editing more reliable.
Born CRISPRed. Now What? [In the Pipeline] So put me down on the side of those saying that this experiment should not have been done yet. We’re going to alter alter the human genome, of that I have no doubt. But there was no reason to alter it now, like this, under these conditions. He Jiankui has just made life more complicated for everyone working in the field, and for what?
Amid uproar, Chinese scientist defends creating gene-edited babies [STAT] Even as criticism of He continued on the sidelines of the meeting as well as in some of the formal talks, there was a sense that human embryo editing was inevitable and could be done responsibly, as several recent bioethics reports have also concluded.
How the genome-edited babies revelation will affect research [Nature] Some scientists worry the startling claim will lead to knee-jerk regulations and damage the public's trust in gene editing.
	4.12 Biopsies liquides
Nanoscale blood test technique set to springboard cancer discoveries [Cancer Research UK] Women gave a sample of blood, following an injection of CAELYX® over a course of 90 minutes as part of their treatment. By extracting the injected liposomes, the scientists were able to detect a wide variety of biomolecules that stuck to the surface of the liposome - called the ‘biomolecule corona’.
Johns Hopkins Researchers Advance Role of Circulating Tumor DNA to Detect Early Melanoma Growth, Uncover Treatment Options [Johns Hopkins] For the study, published in Molecular Oncology, the Kimmel Cancer Center scientists analyzed blood-based ctDNA from 119 advanced-melanoma Johns Hopkins patients. The patients were divided into three groups based on the type of tumor they had and potential mutations that were common and reoccurring in those tumors.
	4.7 Dép., diag. & prono. - Col de l'utérus
Cervical cancer screening rate falls to lowest for at least 21 years [The Telegraph] The statistics show that just 71.4 per cent of women in England are attending screening - the lowest since 1997 - and a fall from 75.7 per cent in 2011.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T, thérapies cellulaires
First children set to receive Novartis’ Kymriah [PharmaTimes] A second centre, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, is also ready to begin treating children with a rare form of leukaemia with Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) while a third, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is expected to join the programme next month.
	5.12.3 Immunothérapies-combinaisons
BMS' second small-cell trial flop endangers Opdivo lung cancer approval: analyst [FiercePharma] Now, it’ll be up to the FDA to decide whether it wants to keep Opdivo’s green light for previously treated patients. And in the meantime, Roche’s Tecentriq is in line to become the immuno-oncology agent used earliest in SCLC treatment after posting positive results earlier this year.
Bristol-Myers' Opdivo falls short again in small cell lung cancer [BiopharmaDive] Detailed results from CheckMate-451 were not disclosed and Bristol-Myers did not confirm its future plans in SCLC, saying only that it will work with study investigators on publication of the results.
	5.2 Pharma
Halozyme drops PFS co-primary endpoint from PEGPH20 phase 3 [FierceBiotech] The trial was due to deliver PFS data in April but a higher than expected rate of censoring—40%—pushed back the readout. Halozyme incorporated PFS censoring into the trial to reduce the risk that patients who change drug mid-study will confound the analysis.
Halozyme Announces Change In Primary Endpoint For HALO-301 To Overall Survival [Halozyme] HALO-301 is a phase 3 global, randomized, double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial evaluating investigational new drug PEGPH20 as a first-line therapy for potential treatment of patients with metastatic pancreas cancer.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
BeiGene bags Asian rights to Zymeworks’ HER2 bispecifics [FierceBiotech] ZW25 and ZW49, Zymeworks’ lead and follow-up candidates, represent two different ways to treat cancers that express the HER2 protein.
	5.3.4 Traitements - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
European approval for Takeda's Alunbrig in ALK+ advanced non-small cell lung cancer [Pharmafile] The decision follows a positive opinion by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), and was based on Phase 2 data which demonstrated that 56% of patients taking Alunbrig achieved an objective response rate (ORR).
European Commission Approves ALUNBRIG® (brigatinib) for ALK+ Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Patients Previously Treated with Crizotinib, Advancing Treatment Paradigm in Europe [Takeda] ALUNBRIG Demonstrated Unprecedented Median Progression-Free Survival of 16.7 Months and Overall Survival of 34.1 Months in the Post-Crizotinib Setting.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
'Tissue agnostic' cancer drug from Bayer, Loxo comes with high price, money-back guarantee [FiercePharma] The companies face a particular challenge in launching the drug, because identifying eligible patients requires genetic testing that isn’t already routine.
Loxo cancer drug wins US approval in advance for targeted therapy [BiopharmaDive] Bayer says it will refund the cost of the drug for eligible patients who "do not experience clinical benefit within 90 days of treatment initiation," but didn't define what constitutes a clinical benefit.
First Targeted Cancer Drug Approved Based on Mutation Rather than Tumor Type [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center] Although many of the studies’ participants had long-lasting responses to larotrectinib, a few became resistant over time when their tumors developed another mutation. The company that makes the drug, Loxo Oncology, has already designed a second drug called LOXO-195 to target this additional alteration.
	6.1 Observation
Unfinished business - An assessment of the national approach to improving cancer services in England 1995–2015 [The Health Foundation] This report looks back to the launch of the NHS Cancer Plan in 2000, which noted that England had poorer survival than in other European countries and promised that by 2010 ‘our 5-year survival rates for cancer will compare with the best in Europe’.
Cancer survival in England still lagging behind other countries [Cancer Research UK] The report warns that a ‘radical rethink’ is needed to help close the gap on cancer survival.
10% of bowel cancer patients can wait more than a year to start treatment [Cancer Research UK] A team from the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) – a collaboration between countries with similar healthcare systems and high-quality data – tracked each step people with bowel cancer went through before treatment. They examined questionnaires, completed by 2,866 international patients and their doctors, as well as medical records of patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2015.
	6.10.1 Politiques (USA)
Cancer Pushes New York’s ‘First Girlfriend,’ Sandra Lee, Onto Political Stage [NY Times] Ms. Lee, 52, is a survivor of that disease, having been diagnosed in March 2015; she underwent a double mastectomy two months later. That procedure is a central part of an HBO documentary, “Rx: Early Detection, A Cancer Journey with Sandra Lee,” that her company, Sandra Lee Incorporated, produced and debuted in October.
	6.6 Publications
Funders flesh out details of Europe’s bold open-access plan [Nature] ‘Plan S’ will allow researchers to publish in hybrid journals under certain conditions until a 2023 review.
Biomedical research is becoming more open about its funding and data [Nature] Although the results indicate that the biomedical community is showing greater acceptance of the importance of open science, Wallach credits some of the progress to changes at journals: many now require statements on funding and conflict of interest, and have polices on data sharing. But Wallach says that journals could do more to promote protocol sharing.
	6.9 Controverses
Should Evidence-Based Medicine Be Replaced by Interpersonal Medicine? [Science-Based Medicine] An opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine complains about the limitations of evidence-based medicine (EBM) and recommends a new approach they call “interpersonal medicine.” In my opinion, good clinical medicine is already interpersonal medicine; there is no need for something new.