Onco Actu du 18 septembre 2019

	1. BIOLOGIE
Enzyme active in cancer also protects normal cells [NIH] “Our work shows, for the first time, that there is a role for telomerase in adult cells beyond promoting tumor formation. We can now say that regulated activation of telomerase at a critical point in a cell’s life cycle serves an important function.”
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
The vaping industry has close ties to Trump. His ban still caught them off guard. [Washington Post] Big and small players go into crisis mode to try to protect a burgeoning business.
New York state ban on flavored e-cigarettes given final approval [Reuters] The state Department of Health pledged to provide retailers with a two-week grace period before conducting site visits to enforce the ban starting on Oct. 7.
	4.12 BIOPSIES LIQUIDES
The Potential of ctDNA as a Prognostic Biomarker in Patients With Colorectal Cancer [AJMC] The authors noted that since both studies had small sample sizes, future research is needed to assess ctDNA clearance more robustly. They also added such findings should make US payers reassess coverage of routine use of ctDNA in patients with early-stage CRC after resection.
	4.9 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - SEIN
Breast Cancer Screening Found Effective in Men at High Risk for the Disease [NYU Langone] For every 1,000 exams in these men, 18 had breast cancer. By contrast, the detection rate for women is roughly 5 for every 1,000 exams. Researchers attribute this result in part to the lower amount of breast tissue in men. More tissue can mask the detection of small tumors.
	5. TRAITEMENTS
More Options, More Questions: Debating the Optimal Frontline Regimen for Multiple Myeloma [ASH] Prashant Kapoor, MD, and Michaela Liedtke, MD, revisit their debate about the best initial therapy for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM), discussing several of the approved triplet regimens, as well as quadruplet regimens under investigation.
	5.10 TRAITEMENTS - ESSAIS
Pharma-Sponsored Oncology Trials Face Troubling Age Disparity Trend [TrialSite News] The researchers found that on average oncology research participants (subjects) were 6.49 years younger than actual patients in clinical settings. Called difference of median age (DMA) they uncovered that DMA was higher in industry-funded trials (6.84 years) vs. non-industry funded trials (4.72 years).
	5.12.13 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - BIOMARQUEURS
Scientists Identify A Subgroup Of Colorectal Cancer Patients Who Generally Do Poorly And Could Benefit From Immunotherapy [City of Hope] Although the study needs to be duplicated in a prospective study with a larger sample size, the researchers propose that PD-L1 expression and CD8 combined score could be used as a biomarker to identify colorectal cancer patients who may require more aggressive monitoring and treatment.
Electronic nose can sniff out which lung cancer patients will respond to immunotherapy [EurekAlert!] Our findings show that breath analysis by eNose can potentially avoid application of ineffective treatment to patients that are identified by eNose as being non-responders to immunotherapy, which in our study was 24% of the patients.
	5.12.6 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - AMM
FDA Approves KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) plus LENVIMA® (lenvatinib) Combination Treatment for Patients with Certain Types of Endometrial Carcinoma [Merck] Combination Treatment Approved for Patients with Advanced Endometrial Carcinoma That Is Not Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) or Mismatch Repair Deficient (dMMR), Who Have Disease Progression Following Prior Systemic Therapy and Are Not Candidates for Curative Surgery or Radiation.
Simultaneous review decisions for pembrolizumab plus lenvatinib in Australia, Canada and US [FDA] Efficacy was investigated in Study 111/KEYNOTE-146 (NCT02501096), a single-arm, multicenter, open-label, multi-cohort trial that enrolled 108 patients with metastatic endometrial carcinoma that had progressed following at least one prior systemic therapy in any setting.
	5.16 TRAITEMENTS - CHIRURGIE
Once-common hysterectomy technique linked to worse uterine cancer outcomes [Yale] For patients at higher risk for uterine cancer, such as post-menopausal women, it may be helpful to avoid uncontained power morcellation if possible,” says Xu. However, the benefits of power morcellation should not be totally dismissed, note the researchers.
	5.17 TRAITEMENTS - RADIOTHÉRAPIE
Targeted radiotherapy technique could cut treatment time from two months to two weeks [Institute of Cancer Research] Researchers found in the three months after treatment, side effects were no worse when compared with patients who had conventional therapy with more moderate doses over a much longer period of time. They are still awaiting data on long-term side effects and overall efficacy, with the treatment technique currently only available in a trial setting in the UK.
	5.3 TRAITEMENTS - FDA, EMA, NICE...
Another day, another Gottlieb board seat: This time it's real-world evidence startup Aetion [Fierce Pharma] At Aetion, he’ll advise the startup as it works to promote its evidence platform, a tool to assess safety, efficacy and value of medical treatments.
Scott Gottlieb is once again joining a team that enjoyed good times at the FDA under his high-energy stint at the helm [EndPoints] Gottlieb — one of the best connected execs in biopharma — knows this company well. As head of FDA he championed the use of real-world evidence to help guide drug developers and the agency in gaining greater efficiencies, which helped set up Aetion as a high-profile player in the game.
	5.3.4 TRAITEMENTS - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
FDA Approves Entrectinib Based on Tumor Genetics Rather Than Cancer Type [NCI] Entrectinib is the second drug approved by FDA for the treatment of cancers with NTRK fusions. The first, called larotrectinib (Vitrakvi), was approved by the agency in November 2018.
	5.6 ESMO
Janssen to Highlight Depth of Prostate Cancer and Solid Tumor Portfolios with Multiple Data Presentations at ESMO 2019 [ESMO] Interim analysis from the Phase 2 GALAHAD study evaluating niraparib in the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and biallelic DNA-repair gene defects, featured as late-breaking abstract.
	5.9.1 ASTRO
Taking Baby Aspirin Improves Overall Survival for Patients With Head & Neck, Lung Cancer [Roswell Park] The retrospective analyses are among the first to suggest a benefit in overall survival for patients with either head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) or early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) — most commonly, low-dose aspirin — alongside standard radiation therapy or chemoradiation therapy.
Adding radiation after immunotherapy improves progression-free survival for some patients with metastatic lung cancer [ASTRO] This phase II prospective trial explored the benefits of treating one cancerous lesion with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in patients with NSCLC whose cancer had continued to spread after treatment with pembrolizumab, a type of immunotherapy.
PACIFIC survival rates explained: Lung cancer spread reduced, new distant growth most often in the brain [ASTRO] In an independent evaluation of the patterns of disease progression for 713 patients randomized to durvalumab (n=476) or placebo (n=237) after completing chemoradiation, researchers found the immunotherapy drug greatly reduced the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.
Artificial Intelligence accurately predicts radiation treatment side effects for patients with head and neck cancers [ASTRO] The data included more than 700 clinical and treatment variables for patients with head and neck cancer (75% male/25% female, with a median age of 62 years) who received more than 2,000 courses of radiation therapy (median dose 60 Gy) across five practice sites at MD Anderson from 2016 to 2018.
Radiation May Lower Potential for Side Effects of CAR T Therapy in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma [Penn Medicine] Penn study shows benefit of radiation given 30 days or less before CAR T infusion.
	6.1 OBSERVATION
UK still behind in cancer survival despite advances [NHS Choices] The study does not tell us why the UK has lower 5-year survival rates than many of the other countries. However, it does point to some areas that the researchers think may have led to the biggest increases in cancer survival since 1995.
	6.7.1 IA/BIOINFORMATIQUE
Tech companies’ dangerous practice: using artificial intelligence to mine hidden health data [STAT] Unless we do something soon to counteract this trend, we risk permanently discarding centuries of health privacy norms. Instead of healing people, emergent medical data will be used to control and exploit them.
	6.8 COMMUNICATION
Fact-checking – by itself – is inherently flawed on health care topics [HealthNewsReview] If the fact-checkers don’t disclose who does the fact-checking, how they do it, and whether any potential conflicts of interest are involved, look elsewhere.