Onco Actu du 2 avril 2019

	3.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC
Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on new efforts to advance treatment strategies for helping youth addicted to nicotine as a result of the epidemic rise in teen use of e-cigarettes [FDA] We cannot risk a whole generation of kids getting addicted to nicotine. Prevention is a critical cornerstone of our efforts to reverse the alarming trend of rising youth use of novel products like e-cigarettes, but we must also put strategies in place now to help those who are already addicted quit.
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
E-cigarettes do not normalise smoking for young people – study [The Guardian] The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, examined data from England, Wales and Scotland, and found that from 1998 to 2015 the percentage of children aged between 13 and 15 who had smoked decreased from 60% to 19%, while regular smokers in the same age group fell from 19% to 5%.
	4. DÉPISTAGE, DIAGNOSTIC ET PRONOSTIC
The Pancreatic Cancer Collective Funds Two New Research Teams Using Artificial Intelligence to identify high-risk pancreatic cancer populations [Stand Up to Cancer] One team will use molecular and genetic data taken from a variety of datasets to identify new and accessible ways to identify high-risk individuals. The other focuses on identification of high-risk individuals by applying machine learning analysis to real world data comprising radiological images, electronic medical records, and information collected by physicians.
	4.2 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - GÉNOME
Q&A: A 10,000-Genome Milestone for Shared Pediatric Cancer Data [The Scientist] The Scientist spoke with Zhang to hear about her vision for the St. Jude Cloud and how the platform has changed over time to become the database with the largest number of whole genomes collected from pediatric cancer patients and survivors.
	4.9 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - SEIN
Training A Computer To Read Mammograms As Well As A Doctor [NPR] Lehman and Barzilay are already thinking beyond the initial reading of mammograms and are looking for algorithms to pick up tasks that humans currently can't perform well or at all. One project is an algorithm that can examine a high-risk spot on a mammogram and provide advice about whether a biopsy is necessary.
	5.12.5 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - PHARMA
Pazdur Grills PD-1/PD-L1 Companies Over Lack Of Collaboration, Trial Redundancies [Bio-Century] Pazdur chastised companies for failing to work together to develop biomarkers and conduct platform trials, suggesting it was an inefficient use of one of the healthcare system’s most precious resources, patients.
	5.12.6 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - AMM
Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) Approved in China for First-Line Treatment of Metastatic Nonsquamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in Combination with Chemotherapy [Merck] KEYTRUDA is First Anti-PD-1 Therapy to be Approved in Multiple Tumor Types in China.
	5.2.3 PHARMA - ÉCONOMIE
Pfizer biotech spinout nabs $125M megaround as Bain-backed syndicate bets on its late-stage game plan [EndPoints] The focus of this latest megaround is centered on two drugs that are being repurposed for rare diseases: nirogacestat, a gamma secretase inhibitor for the treatment of desmoid tumors (rare soft tissue tumors), and PD-0325901, a MEK inhibitor for the treatment of neurofibromatosis type 1-associated plexiform neurofibromas.
	5.4 TRAITEMENTS - ECONOMIE
NICE nod for breast cancer delay drug [Pharma Times] The decision is based on clinical trial evidence suggesting that compared with Faslodex alone, Verzenio with Faslodex increases the length of time before the disease progresses.
	5.9 AACR
AACR 2019 Research Roundup: Pancreatic Cancer Immunotherapy, Prostate Cancer Drug Resistance, Insight into Inherited Cancer Mutations [Memorial Sloan Kettering] Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers are featured in more than 150 abstracts and events at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Atlanta. Their scientific contributions are helping advance understanding of all aspects of cancer. Here’s a round-up of some of the most compelling.
AACR Annual Meeting 2019 Opening Plenary Session: Wearable Technologies, Precision Medicine, and Immunotherapy [Cancer Research Catalyst] In their paired presentation, Kuhn, a professor of biological sciences, biomedical engineering, and aerospace and mechanical engineering; and Nieva, an associate professor of clinical medicine; talked about the current status of cancer detection and treatments, the complexity of tumor biology, and a new approach to digitize both the cancer and the patient to reduce biases in treatment outcomes.
	5.9.1 AACR - SEIN
Roche’s ipatasertib in combination with Tecentriq and chemotherapy shows promising anti-tumour activity in triple-negative breast cancer in early phase trial [Roche] 73% overall response rate (ORR) irrespective of PD-L1 status or PI3KCA/AKT1/PTEN alteration status.
	5.9.13 AACR - PANCRÉAS
AACR: Apexigen, BMS steal the show with promising I-O combo in pancreatic cancer [Fierce Biotech] Apexigen’s immuno-oncology drug candidate, APX005M, was designed to stimulate several elements of the immune system so that it’s better equipped to recognize and fight cancer. The company’s strategy is to combine it with other I-O treatments in cancer.
CD40 Combination Therapy Can Shrink Pancreatic Tumors [Penn Medicine] As of the data cutoff for the interim analysis, 20 of 24 patients (83 percent) saw their tumors shrink. Overall, although the majority of the patients experienced side effects from the treatment, they were expected and manageable, with several patients continuing on treatment for more than a year, which also suggests the combination treatment can produce a durable response.
Excess Body Weight Before age 50 is Associated With Higher Risk of Dying From Pancreatic Cancer [AACR] Researchers examined data from 963,317 U.S. adults with no history of cancer who enrolled in the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study II, a nationwide study of cancer mortality that began in 1982 and followed participants through 2014.
AACR: Little Apexigen steals the show with their CD40/Opdivo cocktail as AACR gets underway [EndPoints] Of the 24 patients who were evaluable by AACR, 20 experienced a response with tumor shrinkage. And a few of those patients have responses that endured for more than 12 months. That’s particularly positive for pancreatic cancer, which has been resistant to PD-1 and where disease progression typically starts in about 5 months.
Pancreatic cancer death increase linked to extra weight [UPI] In all, Jacobs predicts that excess weight will likely be responsible for 28 percent of pancreatic cancer deaths of people born in the U.S. between 1970 and 1974. That's compared to 15 percent of pancreatic cancer linked to weight for people born in the 1930s.
	5.9.2 AACR - HÉMATO
Single agent umbralisib effective for relapsed slow-growing lymphoma [MD Anderson Cancer Center] The research team reported 55 percent of patients who had at least six months of follow-up had a partial or complete response after receiving umbralisib, a small-molecule inhibitor that targets a signaling pathway linked to MZL cell growth and expansion.
AACR: Astellas pads Xospata's AML lead with chemo-beating survival data [Fierce Pharma] Xospata’s solo status may not last, though. Fellow Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo’s FLT3 inhibitor, quizartinib, is waiting in the wings after grabbing an FDA priority review tag that sets it up for a May 25 verdict.
Targeted Drug for Leukemia Tested at Penn Medicine Helps Patients Live Longer [Penn Medicine] Across the board, this trial shows gilteritinib carries a clear survival benefit, meaning we now have a targeted, highly-effective, and well-tolerated treatment option for a group of truly high-risk patients.”
Phase 3 ADMIRAL Trial Data Show XOSPATA® (gilteritinib) Significantly Prolongs Overall Survival in Adult Patients with FLT3 Mutation-Positive Relapsed/Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia -Study results will be presented at AACR2019 [Astellas] Results from the ADMIRAL trial show the median OS for patients who received XOSPATA was 9.3 months compared to 5.6 months for patients who received salvage chemotherapy.
Gilteritinib Improved Survival for Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia [AACR] Of the 371 patients enrolled in the clinical trial, 247 were randomly assigned to gilteritinib and 124 to standard chemotherapy. At the final analysis, patients assigned gilteritinib were found to have a 36 percent reduction in risk of death compared with those assigned standard chemotherapy.
Umbralisib Shows Early Promise for Patients with Marginal Zone Lymphoma [AACR] Among the 38 patients, the median follow-up time was 9.6 months. Four had a complete response and 17 had a partial response, as assessed by the investigators, for an overall response rate of 55 percent.
	5.9.4 AACR - POUMON
AACR: Merck's Keytruda, up for new FDA nod, spurs lengthy responses in small cell lung cancer [Fierce Pharma] The New Jersey drugmaker trotted out results from a pooled analysis of two studies that showed Keytruda could provoke a response in nearly one-fifth of small cell patients.
AACR: One year after mammoth lung cancer win, Merck's Keytruda holds its own in tough-to-treat subgroups [Fierce Pharma] The new data will help cement Keytruda’s lead in the first-line lung cancer market, though the lead is already pretty solid.
Data for Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) Across Different Types of Advanced Lung Cancer Presented at AACR Annual Meeting 2019 [Merck] First Presentation of Overall Survival Data from Post-Hoc Analysis of KEYNOTE-189 in Patients with Advanced Nonsquamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Who Have Liver or Brain Metastases.
Data From Two KEYNOTE Trials Show Pembrolizumab Benefited Patients With Advanced Small Cell Lung Cancer [AACR] Limitations of the study include that it is a retrospective, exploratory, pooled analysis, and that the two trials were single-arm studies, Chung noted.
	5.9.5 AACR - CAR-T
Novel Memorial Sloan Kettering Study on CAR T Cell Therapy in Solid Tumors Highlighted in American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting Press Program [Memorial Sloan Kettering] The study followed 21 patients with malignant disease in the chest cavity (19 with malignant pleural mesothelioma, one with metastatic lung cancer, and one with metastatic breast cancer).
	5.9.7 AACR - DIVERS
AACR: Vaccine prevents cancer in mouse models of Lynch syndrome [Fierce Biotech] The immune system normally recognizes these proteins as foreign invaders, but it doesn’t generate a strong enough response to prevent cancers from forming. So the team screened more than 50 Lynch-related neoantigens, in search of the ones that produced the strongest immune responses.
Studies explore mechanisms behind obesity-cancer link [UNC Lineberger] “I think we’re moving past the question of ‘is obesity an important cancer driver?’ to ‘what do we do about it?’” said UNC Lineberger’s Stephen Hursting, PhD,
Latest Findings from ASCO TAPUR Study Trial Presented at AACR Annual Meeting [ASCO] There are currently 113 TAPUR Study sites in 20 states and nearly 1,400 participants who have received study therapy.
Cancer Preventive Vaccine Showed Promising Results in Preclinical Model of Lynch Syndrome [AACR] In this study, Lipkin and colleagues investigated whether vaccinating mice with Lynch syndrome–associated neoantigens could stimulate a robust immune response that would have antitumor activity.
	5.9.8 AACR - PHARMA
ACCR: Bayer posts early clinical data on follow-up to Loxo’s Vitrakvi [Fierce Biotech] The phase 1 trial linked the drug to a 45% response rate in a subpopulation of solid tumor patients resistant or intolerant to a prior TRK inhibitor.
	5.9.9 AACR - IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES
Apexigen Presents Clinical Data on CD40 Antibody APX005M in Metastatic Melanoma at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019 [Apexigen] APX005M and Nivolumab Combination was Well Tolerated and Induced Promising Response Rates in Patients with Metastatic or Unresectable Melanoma Progressing on Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 Therapy.
AACR: Bay Area biotech bets on antibodies armed with immuno-stimulant to fight checkpoint-resistant cancers [EndPoints] Bolt’s preclinical data has shown that the ISAC approach is arming the body with a repertoire of T-cells that even if the cancer tries to mutate around it, the patient has a fighting chance.
Federal study gives new options for people with rare cancers [AP] It has enrolled more than 550 patients in the U.S. and Canada since it started in 2017. Currently, it’s testing a combo of two immunotherapy drugs, Opdivo and Yervoy — in people grouped into “buckets” according to their tumor type. The drugs’ maker, Bristol-Myers Squibb, is donating them for the study.
	6. LUTTE CONTRE LES CANCERS
Angela Coulter: What we can learn from public involvement at NICE [BMJ] Since 2010 no less than 1,265 patients, carers and members of the public have contributed to the development of NICE guidance, working alongside professional and topic experts as equal partners. Most find this a fascinating and enjoyable experience and there’s no shortage of people wanting to join.
	6.1 OBSERVATION
IVF tied to slight increased risk of rare childhood cancers [Reuters] Put another way, if researchers tracked one million children for a year, they would expect to see one of these rare cancers develop in about 252 children conceived by IVF and about 193 kids conceived naturally.
	6.6 PUBLICATIONS
NEJM says open access is unnecessary. Right. [Genomics, Medicine, and Pseudoscience] The NEJM article is a clever but deeply flawed effort to prove that open access isn't working. It's full of fallacies and straw men, so much so that it's hard to know where to begin.
	6.7.1 IA/BIOINFORMATIQUE
Paging Dr. Topol: Grasping the multidimensional narrative of ‘Deep Medicine’ [STAT] Unlike some physicians and researchers, Topol doesn’t have a God complex. If anything, he has a human complex. He understands that physicians are deeply limited, and that AI could one day radically extend their medical capabilities.