Onco Actu du 19 mars 2019

	1. BIOLOGIE
Cell culture shock – a scientist’s hunt for the perfect cocktail [Cancer Research UK] What’s the best food to give to cells in a lab to make them grow and behave like the cells in our body? Or, put another way, what should cell culture media be made from? Dr Saverio Tardito, from the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow, has been pondering this question. And it’s led to him developing a new cocktail called Plasmax™ which he believes helps his cells in the lab to behave more naturally.
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
Clearing the air about e-cigarettes, vaping, nicotine and health [Washington Post] ‘Less harm does not mean harmless,’ especially for teen users.
	4.12 BIOPSIES LIQUIDES
Liquid biopsy research should include the perspectives of patients like me [STAT] As researchers work to develop liquid biopsies, it is important for them, and the media, to report the perspectives of patients and care partners on both this innovation and traditional biopsies, in part because most people have no idea what is actually involved in a traditional biopsy.
How to catch ovarian cancer earlier [EurekAlert!] The researchers used proteomics to search for signatures of cancer in uterine fluid. They compared samples from women with ovarian cancer having surgery in the course of treatment and from volunteers who had gynecological surgery for reasons unrelated to cancer, such as uterine fibroids or excessive bleeding.
	4.9 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - SEIN
TMIST PI Pisano: “Are we further reducing breast cancer mortality the more intensively we screen?” [The Cancer Letter] The Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial, a massive randomized trial of early detection, is asking an important question: Is digital breast tomosynthesis better than digital mammography in reducing development of advanced breast cancer?
	5. TRAITEMENTS
Testosterone slows prostate cancer recurrence in low-risk patients [European Association of Urology] In the largest such study so far undertaken, US researchers have shown that testosterone replacement slows the recurrence of prostate cancer in low-risk patients. This may call into question the general applicability of Nobel-Prize winning hormonal prostate treatment.
	5.12.2 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - CAR-T, THÉRAPIES CELLULAIRES
NICE Issues Technology Appraisal Guidance on Tisagenlecleucel for Treating Relapsed or Refractory DLBCL [ESMO] More evidence on tisagenlecleucel is being collected, until 2023. 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.
	5.12.3 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES-COMBINAISONS
Cold Genesys bags $22M to push oncolytic virus for bladder cancer [Fierce Biotech] The company is testing the oncolytic immunotherapy CG0070 in combination with Merck’s Keytruda, in addition to as a monotherapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). It’s also doing preclinical work combining the treatment with an undisclosed immune checkpoint modulator in muscle-invasive bladder cancer and other solid tumors.
	5.12.5 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - PHARMA
Roche to present results of the largest safety study of its kind with Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in patients with metastatic bladder cancer [Roche] The SAUL study evaluated the safety of Tecentriq in approximately 1000 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
	5.12.6 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - AMM
FDA approves Roche’s Tecentriq in combination with chemotherapy for the initial treatment of adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer [Roche] First new initial treatment option approved by FDA for people with ES-SCLC in more than 20 years.
	5.2 PHARMA
Who'll follow Sanofi CEO Olivier Brandicourt? The company's eyeing candidates now [FiercePharma] Sources told Reuters that talks about the company’s future leadership have grown more intense in recent weeks. In February, Sanofi reported a sales decline for 2018, and just last week, the company disclosed it had cut Brandicourt’s pay by 25% to €7.28 million ($8.2 million), making his the smallest compensation package in Big Pharma.
	5.2.3 PHARMA - ÉCONOMIE
Drug Industry Consolidation Refuses To Arrive So Quickly [In The Pipeline] Maybe in the even longer term we will see the industry settle into a smaller number of mega-firms, but by now, I sort of doubt it.
	5.3 TRAITEMENTS - FDA, EMA, NICE...
The policy initiatives Scott Gottlieb championed at the FDA will remain after he departs [STAT] The FDA is a collaborative environment. Initiatives such as the ones Gottlieb has become publicly associated with are very much FDA policies. They are supported with enthusiasm by the staff and are consistent with the FDA’s public health mission.
	5.4 TRAITEMENTS - ECONOMIE
Drug shortages jeopardize the lives of children with cancer [STAT] We cannot continue to overlook the economic drivers that lead to shortages of older drugs costing just dollars per dose that offer cures for cancer while newer chemotherapy agents costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that may prolong life by just a few months are rarely, if ever, in short supply. Where is the logic?
	6. LUTTE CONTRE LES CANCERS
Cancer – and avoiding the blame game [Institute of Cancer Research] Leading childhood leukaemia researcher Professor Sir Mel Greaves, discusses the difficulties of avoiding blame and responsibility when it comes to cancer.
Precision Medicine for Pediatric Cancer [Children's Hospital Los Angeles] In a perspectives article published in the prestigious journal Science, Dr. Jaclyn Biegel, from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and Dr. Alejandro Sweet-Cordero, of the University of California, San Francisco, survey the landscape of this young field and present opportunities for using genomic information to advance a new era of care for children with cancer.
Cancer doctor shortage 'puts care at risk' [BBC News] A Royal College of Radiologists census of 62 major UK cancer centres found more that 7.5% of consultant posts were vacant, with services maintained only by large amounts of overtime.
	6.1 OBSERVATION
Researchers predict 1.4 million deaths from all cancers in 2019 in the EU [ESMO] "In 2014 there were 92,000 deaths from breast cancer in Europe and in 2019 we are predicting 92,800," said Prof La Vecchia. "This means the burden of the disease will continue to increase, with consequent implications for public health and costs to society."
Breast cancer survival improving following HRT scares, figures show [The Telegraph] The analysis reveals Britain’s survival rate has gone from the worst among Europe’s biggest countries to second best in the last five years. Improved screening for middle-aged women is partly the reason, however the authors also credit a reduction in take-up of HRT by menopausal women.
UK breast cancer death rates falling fastest in ‘big six’ of Europe [The Guardian] However, the UK’s ageing population, increase in obesity and other factors mean that the overall number of people dying from breast cancer in Britain is due to keep on increasing, even as the death rate decreases.
	6.5 MÉDECINES ALTERNATIVES/COMPLÉMENTAIRES
The Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians publishes Principles of Care Guidelines. Not surprisingly, they aren’t science-based. [Science-Based Medicine] Last week, the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians (OncANP) published “principles of care” guidelines. Try as they might, naturopathic oncologists tried to represent their specialty as evidence-based. Unsurprisingly, they failed.
	6.7.3 DMP
A huge trove of medical records and prescriptions found exposed [Tech Crunch] A health tech company was leaking thousands of doctor’s notes, medical records, and prescriptions daily after a security lapse left a server without a password.
Death By 1,000 Clicks: Where Electronic Health Records Went Wrong [KHN] The U.S. government claimed that turning American medical charts into electronic records would make health care better, safer, and cheaper. Ten years and $36 billion later, the system is an unholy mess. Inside a digital revolution that took a bad turn.
	6.9 CONTROVERSES
The rise and fall of scientific authority — and how to bring it back [Nature] Preaching, denouncing or shouting ‘Science works!’ won’t help. Neither will throwing around statistics, graphs and charts. The best approach, in my view, is to examine the experiences of early proponents of scientific authority who faced powerful resistance, risked their careers and even lives, and had to develop countermeasures.