Onco Actu du 11 décembre 2018

	1. Biologie
The cells that help cancer drugs to cloud the mind [Nature] Microglial cells, which provide immune protection to the nervous system, might have a role in the cognitive impairment known as ‘chemobrain’.
	2. Etiologie
Transplanted organs gave patients cancer [BBC News] The family of a man who died after receiving a liver transplant from a donor with undetected cancer has called for more thorough tests.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Breast cancer testing guidelines out of date, missing genetic screening, says study [CNN] Beitsch and his colleagues set up a study to look at nearly a thousand female breast cancer patients, half who met the criteria set forth in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, the other half who did not. Among 959 study participants, all underwent a full panel of DNA testing for hereditary breast cancer.
	5. Traitements
HER2 mutations can cause treatment resistance in metastatic ER-positive breast cancer [Broad Institute] Biopsies taken before and after treatment reveal new resistance route, as well as an opportunity to resensitize metastatic breast cancers to therapy.
	5.12 Immunothérapies
An impassioned conversation on Impassion130: Atezolizumab in combination with nab-paclitaxel in metastatic triple negative breast cancer [ecancer news] The signal in PD-L1 subgroup of patients looks very impressive. But we did that analysis violating our own protocol, and now we are heavily confused. I’d put my enthusiasm on hold until the data are mature.
	5.12.2 Immunothérapies - CAR-T, thérapies cellulaires
Carl June, MD, Talks CAR T-cell Therapies at AACR Conference [Cancer Research Catalyst] CAR T-cell therapies have mostly been effective only in hematological malignancies, yet about 90 percent of cancer deaths in the U.S. result from solid cancers, June said. Translating the effectiveness of these therapies in patients with solid tumors would therefore fill an unmet clinical need, he added.
	5.12.4 Immunothérapies - Essais
MacroGenics Announces Partial Clinical Hold on MGD009 Phase 1 Studies [MacroGenics] The partial clinical hold was initiated following MacroGenics’ reporting of hepatic adverse events on the MGD009 monotherapy trial to the FDA, including reversible elevations of transaminases with or without concurrent elevations of bilirubin.
MacroGenics halts trials of cancer drug after FDA partial hold [FierceBiotech] MacroGenics insists the development isn’t a big setback, pointing out that the block only applies to recruiting new subjects, and existing patients in both studies can continue on treatment under the assigned protocol. Nevertheless, shares in the company fell more than 15% after hours as investors reacted to the update.
FDA slaps partial hold on MacroGenics for bispecific cancer trials as liver tox spurs safety fears [EndPoints] The partial hold — which affects their monotherapy trial as well a combination effort with their own PD-1 checkpoint MGA012, partnered with Incyte — will stop researchers from recruiting new patients, but people who have already signed up can continue treatment.
	5.12.5 Immunothérapies - Pharma
Gritstone ramps up bispecifics with new antibody therapeutics chief [FierceBiotech] Gritstone’s approach involves identifying the tumor-specific neoantigens (TSNAs) on a patient’s tumor cells, using machine learning to determine which candidate is most likely to activate tumor-specific T cells and then treating the patient with personalized synthetic TSNAs. GRANITE-001 is given in two parts—first a priming adenoviral vector, followed by monthly boosters of an RNA vector, each containing the same 20 patient-specific TSNAs.
Gilead, looking for cancer sales, swipes Roche pharma chief O'Day for CEO post [FiercePharma] And that’s where O’Day comes in. He’ll be tasked with turning around flailing CAR-T player Yescarta, which has pulled in just $183 million through the first nine months of the year.
	5.12.6 Immunothérapies - AMM
Withdrawal of Application for a Change to the EU Marketing Authorisation for Atezolizumab [ESMO] It was also expected to be used in combination with bevacizumab to treat advanced or metastatic RCC.
	5.2.1 Pharma - Partenariats
AstraZeneca, Cancer Research UK set up genomics hub to fight uphill battle against cancer [EndPoints] The facility, which will be housed at the University of Cambridge, is hoping to tap into the potential of functional genomics, in particular the gene editing tool CRISPR, to better understand cancer biology and genetic drivers of drug resistance, in a bid to bring treatments to patients faster.
Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca launch world class functional genomics centre [Cancer Research UK] Building on the transformative potential of CRISPR for gene editing and understanding cancer biology, this centre will be a major driver for the use of CRISPR in drug discovery and development in the UK* and is being established with the expert guidance of Professor Greg Hannon, director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.
	5.4 Traitements - Economie
How to Cut Drug Prices: Experts Weigh In [NY Times] But if policies were adopted to reduce drug prices, could there be negative consequences? On balance, would such policies be good or bad? I asked three health policy experts to consider these questions in the context of four specific drug pricing policies.
	5.7 SABCS
SABCS 2018 Features Molecular Diagnostics Research [Genome Web] They included studies exploring the ability of breast cancer recurrence molecular diagnostics to predict which patients are likely to experience a relapse and benefit from chemotherapy, as well as the cost-effectiveness of using these tools. Researchers also employed circulating tumor DNA technologies to try to identify which patients are likely to have a poor outcome and see their disease progress, and they conducted whole-genome sequencing studies to track the distinct genomic characteristics of metastatic breast cancer.
	6.1 Observation
Delivering a baby increases - then lowers - risk of breast cancer: study [Reuters] “This should not dictate when women decide to have their children because while we are seeing this extra risk after childbirth, this is a period of time when risk overall is exceptionally low,” said Nichols. “This is not translating to a large number of additional breast cancers.”
Giving birth increases women’s breast cancer risk in the short term [Institute of Cancer Research] The researchers pooled data from 889,944 women who took part in 15 prospective studies from around the world, which showed an increase in breast cancer risk in younger women after childbirth.
	6.10 Politiques
Brexit 'no deal' could mean 6 months of disruption for pharma [BiopharmaDive] "We welcome the Secretary of State’s intention to prioritize the flow of medicines and vaccines. But with just 16 weeks until the U.K. leaves the EU, we need the detail. The government should take immediate action to open up alternative supply routes between the U.K. and Europe and tell companies so that they can make plans."
	6.12 Ethique
We Have Ways To Stop Rogue Scientists. They Don’t Always Work. [FiveThirtyEight] In other words, you could say that He is as much a product of the community of science as he is in violation of it. The mad scientist will never go away, either as trope or reality. This dark side of science is too much a part of how science works.
	6.14 Prix Nobel
Allison receives Nobel Prize today in Sweden for immunotherapy innovation [TMC News] Allison delivered his Nobel lecture entitled “Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Cancer Therapy: New insights, opportunities, and prospects for cures” on Dec. 7 in Stockholm.