Onco Actu du 11 juin 2019

	1. BIOLOGIE
Study finds macrophages’ pathway to nurture PTEN-deficient glioblastoma [MD Anderson Cancer Center] “We’ve identified a symbiotic circuit that is activated in PTEN-deficient glioblastoma which creates a mutually supportive relationship between the cancer cell and macrophages that come into the tumor microenvironment and provide growth factor support for the tumor.”
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
Taking Aim at Tobacco: Highlights From Annual Meeting Symposium [Cancer Research Catalyst] Interestingly, although e-cigarettes are on the market in the United Kingdom (UK), that country has not experienced the same public health crisis of youth use that the U.S. has. Alison Cox shared that, in the UK, e-cigarettes are the most popular smoking cessation aid, but e-cigarette use by never-smokers remains negligible.
U.S. FDA warns flavored e-cigarette makers over social media posts [Reuters] Posts on social media on behalf of Solace Technologies LLC, Hype City Vapors LLC, Humble Juice Co LLC and Artist Liquids Laboratories LLC had content touting the flavored e-liquid products by not including the required nicotine warning statement, the agency said.
	4.1 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - PROSTATE
Prostate cancer screening scan hope [BBC News] Hundreds of UK men are trying out a new screening test for prostate cancer to see if it should eventually be offered routinely on the NHS.
MRI scans to be trialled as test for prostate cancer [The Guardian] The £5m trial, which begins in August, is pioneering a simple, 10-minute scan that scientists hope could provide the first reliable method for identifying dangerous tumours in the general population.
	4.10 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - POUMON
Roche launches first in vitro lung cancer diagnostic test [Pharma Times] The biomarker is the first and only in vitro diagnostic ROS1 immunohistochemistry assay on the market and looks promising to provide a cost-effective and efficient means to initially identify the presence of elevated ROS1 protein expression in cancer.
	4.15 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - IMAGERIE
New Radiotracer Can Identify Nearly 30 Types of Cancer [SNMMI] Using 68Ga-FAPI positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), researchers were able to image a wide variety of tumors with very high uptake and image contrast, paving the way for new applications in tumor characterization, staging and therapy.
I face a known risk from cancer and an undetermined risk from the scan used to detect it. Which is worse? [Washington Post] With the FDA investigating the effects of MRI contrast agents, how many scans may be too many?
	5.10 TRAITEMENTS - ESSAIS
Drug Shows Promise in Slowing Progression of Smoldering Myeloma to Cancer [NCI] In the NCI-supported clinical trial, researchers found that lenalidomide—which is already used to treat multiple myeloma—may delay or slow the progression of smoldering myeloma.
	5.12.10 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - FUSIONS ET ACQUISITIONS
Merck inks $773M Tilos takeout to bag TGFβ cancer programs [Fierce Biotech] Some of the anti-LAP antibodies created by Tilos are designed to deplete immunosuppressive cells and inhibit the release of TGFβ, without affecting LAB-TGFβ complexes in the extracellular matrix. In doing so, Tilos thinks it can safely inhibit pathological and immuno-regulatory processes.
Merck to buy private Tilos in deal worth up to $773M [Biopharma Dive] For Merck, the deal gives some exposure into TGF-beta at the same time that German Merck has begun a direct clinical challenge to the pharma giant's key immunotherapy, Keytruda (pembrolizumab).
Merck Bags Tilos, Adding an Immunotherapy Booster to Its Arsenal [Xconomy] Tilos was spun out of research by neuroscientists Galina Gabriely and Howard Weiner at Bringham and Women’s Hospital. In a paper published in Science Immunology in 2017, the two reported that an antibody targeting a protein called latency-associated peptide, or LAP—an antibody they were studying to try to determine the biological underpinnings of multiple sclerosis—might be useful as a cancer treatment.
Merck to Acquire Tilos Therapeutics [Merck] Merck Gains Portfolio of Investigational Antibodies Modulating TGFβ.
Merck makes a $773M bet on TGFβ, acquiring a three-year-old biotech [EndPoints] Tilos Therapeutics, founded three years ago, is developing anti-LAP antibodies, designed to treat cancer, fibrosis and autoimmune diseases by unleashing the immune system to attack disease.
	5.17 TRAITEMENTS - RADIOTHÉRAPIE
New Center for Proton Therapy Opens in Manhattan [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center] “The opening of this facility represents an unprecedented commitment to the future of cancer treatment,” says Simon Powell, Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at MSK. “New York will continue to lead in the struggle against cancer by offering groundbreaking treatment for many of our most vulnerable patients.”
Study: Radiation drives up cardiac event risk for lung cancer patients [UPI] Thoracic radiotherapy for patients with lung cancer led to more than 10 percent of patients having heart attacks, heart failure and other cardiac episodes, according to research published Monday in Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Proton therapy: Cancer revolution or costly white elephant? [The Spectator] The evidence for the treatment isn’t ambiguous — it just doesn’t exist yet.
	5.2 PHARMA
Servier, armed with Shire cancer drugs, builds out vision for U.S. future [Fierce Pharma] One big part of that vision? Doubling the size of the oncology business within the next five years, which will involve “some inorganic growth to help build this portfolio,” Lee said in an interview this week at the BIO International Convention.
	5.2.3 PHARMA - ÉCONOMIE
The top 20 highest-paid biopharma CEOs of 2018 [Fierce Pharma] Moderna only went public late last year, and its helmsman Bancel topped all other biopharma CEOs with a staggering $58.6 million pay package.
Sticking to hottest trends in biopharma, Oncologie gathers $80M for next leg of trans-Pacific clinical journey [EndPoints] A late-stage failure of bavituximab torpedoed Peregrine’s stock a couple of years ago before the biotech changed its name to Avid. Oncologie now wants to test the drug — which inhibits phosphatidylserine — for gastric cancer in a proof-of-concept study, adding to existing trials in glioblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma.
	5.3.4 TRAITEMENTS - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
Seattle Genetics’ Antibody-Drug Conjugate Technology Utilized in Genentech’s Polivy, Now Approved by FDA [Seattle Genetics] Approval Triggers Milestone Payment and Royalties on Worldwide Net Sales.
Roche snags first-in-class FDA nod for lymphoma drug Polivy [Fierce Pharma] The approval comes as Roche’s Rituxan, Avastin and Herceptin face growing biosimilar threats in the U.S. and elsewhere. Last year, the drugs together generated more than $10 billion in U.S. sales, but Roche is expecting all three to face biosimilars in the U.S. market by year's end.
FDA grants Roche’s Polivy accelerated approval for people with previously treated aggressive lymphoma [Roche] First-in-class antibody-drug conjugate that specifically targets CD79b, a protein expressed in the majority of B-cells.
In a boost to Rituxan franchise, Roche nabs quick approval for polatuzumab vedotin [EndPoints] Polivy, or polatuzumab vedotin, is a first-in-class drug targeting CD79b — a protein prominent in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Roche's combo lymphoma treatment wins U.S. FDA approval [Reuters] Wall Street analysts estimate Polivy sales at nearly $1 billion by 2024, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
FDA approves polatuzumab vedotin-piiq for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [FDA] Approval was based on Study GO29365 (NCT02257567), an open-label, multicenter clinical trial that included a cohort of 80 patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL after at least one prior regimen.
	6.1 OBSERVATION
Body Fat Distribution Linked to Higher Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer [Wiley] To provide high quality evidence, Barbra Dickerman, PhD, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and her colleagues analyzed body fat distribution using the gold-standard measure of computed tomography imaging and assessed the risk of being diagnosed with, and dying from, prostate cancer among 1,832 Icelandic men who were followed for up to 13 years.
	6.10 POLITIQUES
Not playing NICE: UK drugs gatekeeper in US crosshairs [Politico] Pharma sets sights on unwinding drug pricing assessments in post-Brexit trade deal.
	6.7 DMP, BIG DATA & APPLIS
Digital health and the elusive quest for cost savings [Lancet Digital Health] We might embrace these technologies rapidly simply because of the convenience or reassurance that they offer. However, as evidence suggests, more is not always better in medicine, and careful evaluation of such interventions becomes ever more important. Otherwise, to paraphrase the remark made by the US economist Robert Solow, we will soon see digital health everywhere but neither in health gains nor in cost reduction statistics.
	6.7.3 DMP
Lost in translation: Epic goes to Denmark [Politico] “We thought, naively, diagnosis is the same in the U.S. and Denmark. People get the same kinds of illnesses, the same treatments. We rely on the same textbooks in medical school.” But an IT system that requires collaboration among its users “depends on the culture where that collaboration takes place,” he said.
	6.8 COMMUNICATION
The social dynamics of lung cancer talk on Twitter, Facebook and Macmillan.org.uk [Npj Digital Medicine] Contrary to expectations, Twitter posts showed the most companionship support, reflecting the use of hashtags as user-generated signals of community belonging and interests.