Onco Actu du 4 avril 2019

	1. BIOLOGIE
New role for a driver of metastatic cancers [Salk Institute] This new information about the role of CDK12 helps us understand how cancer cells are disorganized, and also how chemical inhibitors of CDK12 could help kill cancer cells.
	1.4 BIOLOGIE - TECHNOS
China's Selling Genetically-Modified Mice for $17,000 a Pair [Bloomberg] President Xi Jinping’s drive to turn the country into a biomedical powerhouse by 2025 has pushed the country deeper into drug discovery and to the forefront of genetics. That’s helping fuel a global market for gene-altered mice predicted to expand 7.5 percent a year to top $1.59 billion by 2022.
	2. ETIOLOGIE
Family colon cancer risk similar for siblings and half siblings [Reuters] “While it is likely that siblings and half-siblings have an increased colorectal cancer risk due to genetics, the extent to which environmental factors, such as shared life experiences and lifestyles, play a role is unclear.”
Some Cancers Become Contagious [The Scientist] So far, six animal species are known to carry transmissible, “parasitic” forms of cancer, but researchers are still mystified as to how cancer can become infectious.
	2.12 ETIOLOGIE - UV
You Missed A Spot! Patchy Sunscreen Application Leaves Skin Vulnerable To Cancer [NPR] Five to 10 percent of skin cancers occur on the eyelid. Unfortunately, that same patch of sensitive skin is the area where we're most likely to skimp on sun protection, according to a study published Wednesday in PLOS One.
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
U.S. FDA warns of potential seizure risk in some users of e-cigarettes [Reuters] Some of the reported seizure cases involved users who had a prior history of seizure diagnosis, while a few others suffered seizures in association with use of other substances such as marijuana or amphetamines.
Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., and Principal Deputy Commissioner Amy Abernethy, M.D., Ph.D., on FDA’s ongoing scientific investigation of potential safety issue related to seizures reported following e-cigarette use, particularly in youth and young adults [FDA] We are actively seeking additional reporting. We’re encouraging health care professionals, consumers, parents, teachers and other concerned adults, as well as youth and young adult users to be aware of this potential health issue and report any past or future incidents of seizures following e-cigarette use to the FDA.
FDA investigates reports of seizures after vaping [CNN] There is no clear pattern to the seizures: Some who had seizures were vaping for the first time, and some had been using these products for a while. The timing of the seizures also ranged from after a few puffs on an e-cigarette to a full day later.
	3.3 PRÉVENTION - VACCINS
HPV vaccine linked to 'dramatic' cervical disease drop [BBC News] The uptake of the vaccine in Scotland is about 90%.
The remarkable impact of bivalent HPV vaccine in Scotland [BMJ] The findings are dramatic and document a considerable reduction in high grade cervical disease over time.
	4. DÉPISTAGE, DIAGNOSTIC ET PRONOSTIC
Pancreatic Cancer Biomarker Signature Uncovered by Genome-Wide Functional Variant Screen [Genome Web] According to the researchers, the signature could be used to identify high-risk PDAC patients with a low probability of survival who might be candidates for clinical trials of new therapeutic strategies including neoadjuvant chemotherapy protocols.
	4.10 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - FDA, EMA, NICE,...
FDA Starts A Discussion About How To Regulate Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning Software As A Medical Device [FDA Law Blog] In a nutshell, it appears that FDA aims to incorporate an envelope of permissible modifications in the field, provided there is sufficient characterization of how they will occur, how they will be controlled, and how patient risks will be monitored and managed.
	4.12 BIOPSIES LIQUIDES
Using blood, saliva, urine to detect cancer: Scientists' 'holy grail' [CNN] The science behind detecting signs of cancer in liquid biopsies -- and how that could change the patient experience and public health as a whole -- remains in the early, experimental stages but has spurred some excitement.
	4.7 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - COL DE L'UTÉRUS
Screening also prevents rare types of cervical cancer [Karolinska Institutet] The results show that women who had participated in the screening program on the last two occasions they were invited, were over 75 per cent and 65 per cent less likely to have developed adenosquamous and other rare types of cervical cancer, respectively, than women who had not been screened.
	4.9 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - SEIN
Older Women Benefit Significantly When Screened with 3-D Mammography [RSNA] The study results do not support a specific age cutoff age for mammography screening, according to Dr. Bahl. She said that guidelines for screening in older women should be based on individual preferences, life expectancy and health status rather than age alone.
Helen Salisbury: Should I persuade patients to have mammograms? [BMJ] If, after this initiative, breast cancer screening rates rise at our practice, can I be sure that all patients have made a fully informed, shared decision? Or is there a risk that they will just have been advised by a trusted doctor to be screened? The fact that we’re being offered a payment for this makes me very uncomfortable.
	5.12.2 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - CAR-T, THÉRAPIES CELLULAIRES
Editas, BlueRock team up to develop off-the-shelf engineered cell therapies [Fierce Biotech] Under the deal, the pair will combine Editas’ CRISPR technology and BlueRock’s induced pluripotent stem cell platform to develop allogeneic pluripotent stem cell lines that will lay the groundwork for new engineered cell medicines that can be used off the shelf.
	5.12.4 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - ESSAIS
Despite research boom, few immunotherapy studies targeting pancreatic cancer [Biopharma Dive] Among the more than 2,600 clinical trials testing the most successful type of cancer immunotherapy, only 89, or about 3%, target pancreatic cancer.
	5.2 PHARMA
After falling short on prelim OS data, EMA tells Aveo it wants to see something better on its long suffering tivo this summer — or else [EndPoints] Aveo in a filing said the EMA has asked for the additional interim OS analysis of TIVO-3 by August 2019, and that “regulatory action” will be considered if a negative OS trend is confirmed.
	5.2.3 PHARMA - ÉCONOMIE
Sorrento sues Soon-Shiong over 'catch-and-kill' of its cancer drug, a potential Abraxane rival [Fierce Biotech] Turns out “catch-and-kill" isn’t just for containing damaging news stories—it can also be used to keep generic competition down. At least, that’s what Sorrento Therapeutics is accusing Patrick Soon-Shiong of doing.
Biotech billionaire faces accusations of fraud for $1.3B ‘catch-and-kill’ cancer drug deal [EndPoints] Ji alleges that Soon-Shiong not only played out a “catch-and-kill” plan to eliminate a competitor to Soon-Shiong’s Abraxane, which he sold to Celgene in a deal that left him with more than a billion dollars in Celgene stock, he used a big chunk of the money Sorrento got in the upfront to help cover his costs for doing it.
	5.3.4 TRAITEMENTS - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
VIZIMPRO® (dacomitinib) Receives Marketing Authorization in European Union (EU) for the First-Line Treatment of Adult Patients with EGFR-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer [Pfizer] The European Commission’s approval of VIZIMPRO was supported by data from ARCHER 1050, a randomized, multicenter, multinational, open-label, Phase 3 study conducted in patients with unresectable, metastatic or recurrent NSCLC harboring EGFR exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R substitution mutations.
	5.4 TRAITEMENTS - ECONOMIE
Advanced breast cancer drug combo approved for NHS in England [Cancer Research UK] The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended the drugs – called abemaciclib (Verzenio) and fulvestrant (Faslodex) - in new draft guidance, after the treatments were shown to slow disease progression and delay the need for chemotherapy in a clinical trial.
	5.9 AACR
AACR 2019 Roundup: Notes from a Weekend of Early Stage Cancer Results [Xconomy] In case you missed the flow of stories that started last weekend—or you just want to refresh your memory—we’ve rounded up some of the highlights here and put them in the context you need to know if you’re not an expert.
	5.9.12 AACR - BIOPSIES LIQUIDES
AACR 2019 – Foundation Medicine sets the scene for liquid biopsy approval [Vantage] The fact that Foundation’s test pinpointed mutations missed by tissue biopsy raises an interesting point. It will be tempting for Roche investors to take this as evidence of the blood test’s superior sensitivity, but if tissue testing is the gold standard these could be regarded as failures of specificity.
	5.9.4 AACR - POUMON
AACR: BMS, clinging to Opdivo's lung cancer share, highlights long-term data [Fierce Pharma] They showed that at the four-year mark, 14% of all Opdivo-treated patients were still alive, compared with just 5% of those who had received chemo instead.
	5.9.5 AACR - CAR-T
AACR Annual Meeting 2019: Promising Data from CAR T-cell Clinical Trials for Advanced Solid Tumors [Cancer Research Catalyst] A pair of studies presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019 demonstrated encouraging clinical outcomes with two different chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for patients with advanced solid tumors.
	5.9.7 AACR - DIVERS
Project GENIE Used to Explore Impact of Rare Cancer Mutations on Treatment Response [Genome Web] A clinico-genomic real-world database can be useful to study the impact of rare genetic mutations in cancer and the efficacy of drugs in molecularly defined patient subsets, researchers demonstrated this week at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.
	6. LUTTE CONTRE LES CANCERS
Report: Application of Cancer Reducing Strategies in the U.S. is Suboptimal [ACS] The latest edition of the American Cancer Society’s review on recent cancer prevention and early detection efforts in the United States finds there’s a long way to go in fully adopting behaviors that can reduce cancer risk.
	6.6 PUBLICATIONS
‘Predatory’ Scientific Publisher Is Hit With a $50 Million Judgment [NY Times] The Federal Trade Commission accused Omics International, a publisher in India, of operating hundreds of fake research journals with deceptive business practices.
	6.7.1 IA/BIOINFORMATIQUE
Artificial intelligence helps to better assess treatment response of brain tumors [DKFZ] In their recent publication, the authors show that machine learning methods carefully trained on standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are more reliable and precise than established radiological methods in the treatment of brain tumors.
How IBM Watson Overpromised and Underdelivered on AI Health Care [IEEE Spectrum] The realization that Watson couldn’t independently extract insights from breaking news in the medical literature was just the first strike. Researchers also found that it couldn’t mine information from patients’ electronic health records as they’d expected.