Onco Actu du 19 septembre 2019

	1. BIOLOGIE
Deadly Brain Cancers Act Like 'Vampires' By Hijacking Normal Cells To Grow [NPR] Barria advises caution when it comes to drugs that affect the connections between brain cells. "Synapses are everywhere in the brain," he says. "So to target only the synapses between cancer cells and neurons, that's what's going to be tricky."
Brain tumors form synapses with healthy neurons, Stanford-led study finds [Stanford Medicine] The tumors, called high-grade gliomas, form synapses that hijack electrical signals from healthy nerve cells to drive their own growth. Experiments demonstrated that interrupting these signals with an existing anti-epilepsy drug greatly reduced the cancers’ growth in human tumors in mice, providing the first evidence for a possible new way to treat gliomas.
Cancer cells have ‘unsettling’ ability to hijack the brain’s nerves [Nature] Tumour cells can plug into — and feed off — the brain’s complex network of neurons, according to a trio of studies. This nefarious ability could explain the mysterious behaviour of certain tumours, and point to new ways of treating cancer.
	1.1 BIOLOGIE - GÉNOME
New Findings Clarify How the “Guardian of the Genome” Works [Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute] In a paper published September 18 in the journal Nature, a team of scientists from the Sloan Kettering Institute reports they have discovered a previously unrecognized way that p53 works to prevent cancer: by altering cell metabolism in a way that affects a cell’s identity.
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
The AACR Applauds the Administration for its Plan to Protect the Public from the Dangers of E-cigarettes [AACR] AACR urges tighter regulation and increased funding for research into potential risks.
Canada investigating a case of vaping-related illness [STAT] Dr. Christopher Mackie, medical officer for the county health department, said the patient had severe illness and was admitted to an intensive care unit. But the patient — who had no other health issues — has since recovered and has been released from the hospital.
Does the FDA Even Regulate E-Cigs? Actually Kinda Not [Wired] That’s why all those weird, possibly toxic flavorings are allowed—and the lax regulatory environment goes back a century.
Teenage Vaping Rises Sharply Again This Year [NY Times] Dr. Volkow said she would like to see penalties for selling e-cigarette devices to minors, and a serious campaign to extend the stigma of smoking to e-cigarettes.
Survey logs big one-year jump in nicotine vaping among 8th-graders [Reuters] The actual rates are probably significantly higher because many e-cigarette users vape non-nicotine products designed to taste like mint, bubblegum, cotton candy and other sweets. Those were not included in the current analysis.
India bans e-cigarettes as global backlash at vaping gathers pace [Reuters] The ban cuts off a huge future market from e-cigarette makers at a time when the number of people smoking worldwide is declining.
Teen e-cigarette use doubles since 2017 [NIH] “With 25% of 12th graders, 20% of 10th graders and 9% of eighth graders now vaping nicotine within the past month, the use of these devices has become a public health crisis,” said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow.
	4. DÉPISTAGE, DIAGNOSTIC ET PRONOSTIC
Finding the Right Words to Stop Cancer Screening in Older Adults [JAMA] The hurdle is talking about life expectancy with older adults. “When people go in for a routine checkup and you’re going to talk about whether they should get a mammogram or a colonoscopy, they’re not expecting a decision about how long they’re going to live,” Torke said. “That’s something we need to consider if we’re even going to bring up that topic.”
	4.9 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - SEIN
For routine breast screening, you may not need a 3D mammogram [The Conversation] In the 3D mammography studies, including the latest Australian study, a higher proportion of cancers in the 3D groups were very small invasive or “in situ” malignancies less likely to cause harm than more aggressive cancers. This means many of the additional cancers detected by 3D mammograms could be “over-diagnosed” cancers that cause women to undergo gruelling cancer treatments without real benefit.
	5. TRAITEMENTS
Study quantifies impact of NIH-sponsored trials on clinical cancer care [NIH] The study suggests that NCTN trials add value regardless of whether findings were positive or negative. In addition, the authors calculated the cost of running NCTN trials, and they also found that the cost of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval from an NCTN trial was much less than the cost of an FDA approval from a trial run by pharmaceutical companies.
	5.1 TRAITEMENTS - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
Johns Hopkins Researchers ID Compound That Could Play A Novel Role In Halting Pancreatic Cancer Progression [Johns Hopkins] The researchers say their results suggest that targeting MYH14 and similar cytoskeletal proteins with 4-HAP is a potentially novel strategy for improving the survival of pancreatic cancer patients, and could eventually become part of a combination strategy with chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy agents.
Study finds new way to make chemotherapy more effective against pancreatic cancer [Mayo Clinic] In this study, pancreatic cancer cell lines and patient-derived tumor samples were treated with a new GSK-3 inhibitor, called 9-ING-41, alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Researchers found that the GSK-3 inhibitor significantly increased pancreatic tumor cancer cell death and prolonged survival in tumor-bearing models when combined with chemotherapy.
Combination therapies could help treat fatal lung cancers [Institute of Cancer Research] We found a three-drug combination that significantly shrank lung tumours in mice and human cancer cells. Tumours treated with the combination shrank and stayed small, whereas those treated with the G12C KRAS inhibitor alone tended to shrink at first but then start growing again after a couple of weeks.
	5.10 TRAITEMENTS - ESSAIS
Gauging the validity of cancer drug trials: a call for collaboration [BMJ] We recommend devising and testing novel strategies for collating and communicating information about the validity of clinical studies in the future. Several strategies could be considered.
Flawed evidence underpins approval of new cancer drugs [BMJ] With increasing reliance on single armed trials to support cancer drug approvals, Naci and colleagues’ study shows that trial evidence alone is not enough. Quality assessment of that evidence is also needed to ensure that these trials accurately estimate treatment effects.
	5.12.2 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - CAR-T, THÉRAPIES CELLULAIRES
CAR T-Cell Therapy for Pediatric Patients: The Latest Updates [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] “It took many years to figure out how to correctly follow patients who received a stem cell transplant,” says Duncan. “Now we’re trying to figure out how to follow patients who received CAR T-cell therapy. This is something we’ll learn over time.”
	5.12.6 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - AMM
Merck, Eisai's Keytruda-Lenvima combo wins simultaneous OKs in U.S., Canada and Australia [Fierce Pharma] The simultaneous decisions are the first made under Project Orbis, a collaboration among the FDA, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and Health Canada that aims to cut cancer drugs’ review time across country borders. The pilot program allows for concurrent submissions by the sponsors and collaborative reviews by all three agencies.
	5.2 PHARMA
Biotech start-up Divide & Conquer launches to disrupt cancer cell communication [C&EN] It will be a couple years at least before the start-up has an idea of whether its cellular-communication-jamming strategy will work. As a founding partner of Medicxi, Grainger has evaluated a lot of ideas for companies. “I always said I would never invest in a cancer company,” he says. “And yet here I am doing this.”
'Disconnect the bastards'— one biotech's plan to break cancer cells' unified defenses [EndPoints] Armed with this proof-of-concept, the three researchers have collaborated to form the aptly named company: Divide and Conquer. The biotech was established to isolate cancer cells —”disconnect the bastards” — Grainger said, quoting Winkler. The hope is that the isolation, catalyzed by interfering with PKC, will render stubborn-to-treat cancer cells vulnerable to conventional chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy approaches.
	5.2.1 PHARMA - PARTENARIATS
Adaptive Biotechnologies Enters Partnership for Use Of clonoSEQ® as Preferred MRD Test for Drug Development Across Amgen’s Hematology Franchise [Adaptive] Global partnership spans Amgen’s entire portfolio of pipeline and marketed blood cancer therapies.
Amgen to bring Adaptive's MRD diagnostic to its wider blood cancer portfolio [Fierce Biotech] Under a four-year agreement, Adaptive’s clonoSEQ Assay will be used to assess minimal residual disease (MRD) in ongoing and future clinical trials.
	5.2.2 PHARMA - FUSIONS & ACQUISITIONS
Pharma megamergers need to go under a microscope, Senators tell FTC [Fierce Pharma] The senators are worried about the mergers’ effect on pharma innovation, and they believe the merged companies could have more power in negotiations with payers.
	5.3 TRAITEMENTS - FDA, EMA, NICE...
FDA lays out tech modernization action plan [EndPoints] For instance, the TMAP report notes that the FDA will need to have a technical infrastructure that can accept, evaluate and analyze novel sources of data (e.g., real-world data) and apply that data to regulatory decision making over the next several years.
	5.3.4 TRAITEMENTS - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
J&J's Erleada scores metastatic prostate cancer nod in battle with Pfizer-Astellas' Xtandi [Fierce Pharma] Erleada’s green light follows the FDA’s real-time review of the drug’s phase 3 Titan trial data, which showed Erleada plus ADT cut the risk of death over placebo plus ADT by 33%. After nearly two years, 84% of patients on Erleada-ADT were still alive, compared with 78% of the placebo-ADT group.
J&J finds competitive edge with latest Erleada approval [Biopharma Dive] The new approval puts Erleada on more even ground with Zytiga, which regulators have already OK'd to treat mCSPC, and differentiates it from Xtandi, which has yet to secure such an approval.
FDA approves apalutamide for metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer [FDA] Apalutamide was initially approved in 2018 for patients with non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Efficacy was demonstrated in TITAN (NCT02489318), a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center clinical trial enrolling 1,052 patients with mCSPC.
	5.6 ESMO
Amgen Showcases New Data From Oncology Pipeline And Portfolio At ESMO 2019 [Amgen] - New Data Show Clinical Responses in Colorectal and Appendiceal Cancer Patients Treated With AMG 510 - Two Late-Breaking Abstracts With Data Highlighting IMLYGIC® (Talimogene Laherparepvec) for Neoadjuvant Melanoma and in Combination for Advanced Melanoma.
	5.9 AACR
Research Continues to Drive Advances Against Cancer [AACR] The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today released its annual Cancer Progress Report highlighting how research largely supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is spurring improvements in public health and innovative breakthroughs across the spectrum of cancer care.
	6.11 PATIENTS
Cancer patient or cancer survivor? Understanding illness identity. [Oxford University Press] In Germany, it is still not common for people living with cancer to describe themselves as a cancer survivor. About a third of people there who had been previously diagnosed with breast, colorectal or prostate cancer still considered themselves cancer patients 5 to 15 years after the diagnosis.