Onco Actu du 27 septembre 2019

	1.3 PRIX NOBEL
‘Jim Allison: Breakthrough’ Review: Taking On Cancer [NY Times] The film does a solid job of explaining the barriers — justified skepticism, professional groupthink, the high cost of long-term research — that Allison faced in proving that a new kind of treatment could work.
	1.4 BIOLOGIE - TECHNOS, MODÈLES
Ultrasound can ‘see’ when tumor cells turn genes on and off [Science] New technique may overcome limits of older fluorescent imaging methods.
	2. ETIOLOGIE
Familial risk of colorectal cancer: the genes only tell part of the story [DKFZ] On the basis of a current epidemiological study, scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) conclude that the role of genes has been overestimated in patients with a higher familial risk of colorectal cancer. Other risk factors such as family dietary habits presumably have a greater impact that previously assumed. This will have implications for future calculations of individual risk and for the ensuing recommendations.
Heartburn Drugs and Cancer: What Are the Risks? [WebMD] Valisure is working with researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to dig deeper into the risks. They hope to be able to pinpoint which types of cancer are linked to NDMA soon, so people who’ve been taking ranitidine for years will know what to monitor with their doctors.
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
CDC reports another surge in number of cases of vaping-related illness [STAT] “This is a complex investigation and I don’t think that we should expect definitive answers imminently. This may take some time,” the CDC’s principal deputy director, Anne Schuchat, told reporters last week.
Vaping-Related Illnesses Climb to 805, C.D.C. Says [NY Times] The latest weekly tally includes 275 more reports of patients sickened, in 46 states. There are now 12 deaths linked to vaping-related lung injuries.
U.S. vaping-related deaths rise to 12, illnesses climb to 805 [Reuters] Public health officials have advised consumers to quit vaping and urged those who continue using the devices to avoid buying such products on the street, using marijuana-derived oil with the products or modifying a store-bought vape product.
	4. DÉPISTAGE, DIAGNOSTIC ET PRONOSTIC
Body-on-a-Chip Device Predicts Cancer Drug Responses [NUH Director's Blog] Researchers circulate blood-mimicking fluid through the chip, along with chemotherapy drugs. This allows them to test the agents’ potential to fight human cancer cells, while simultaneously gathering evidence for potential adverse effects on tissues placed in the other chambers.
	4.15 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - IMAGERIE
New Imaging Method Could Guide Prostate Cancer Treatment [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center] An imaging method called hyperpolarized MRI can produce highly detailed pictures of a tumor’s metabolic activity. A new study demonstrates that this approach can give clues about whether a prostate cancer is likely to spread, which could guide treatment decisions.
	5.10 TRAITEMENTS - ESSAIS
Adaptive Trials [In The Pipeline] The paper under discussion is particularly geared toward adaptive platform trials, which is the sort of thing you might run if you’re comparing several oncology clinical candidates or combinations (for example).
23andMe, moving beyond consumer DNA tests, is building a clinical trial recruitment business [STAT] The company’s giant trove of genetic data — and email addresses — collected from its millions of customers has the potential to give it a leg up on the contract research organizations that have traditionally helped drug companies find participants for their studies.
	5.12 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES
Oncologists listen when the FDA speaks, even after a drug hits the market [EndPoints] The therapies were approved through the FDA’s controversial accelerated approval program, based on single-arm Phase II clinical trials as opposed to the full gold-standard Phase III randomized studies. The FDA subsequently restricted the program to patients not eligible for chemo.
Study: Cancer drug may cause metabolic imbalance, shorter survival [UPI] The study, researchers said, suggests that combining checkpoint blockers with IDO inhibitors might "benefit a selected group of patients with checkpoint-inhibition-triggered kynurenine pathway activation."
	5.12.11 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
What can tumours in Tasmanian devils teach us about immunotherapy resistance? [Cancer Research UK] The team saw the same thing happening in Tasmanian devil tumours cells as in human cells and mice. MHC class I was being suppressed by the activity of PRC2.
	5.3 TRAITEMENTS - FDA, EMA, NICE...
Change of name of liposomal medicines at high risk of medication errors [EMA] The CHMP and the CMDh have now clarified that for medicines administered topically or by other routes of administration, the qualifier 'liposomal' or 'pegylated liposomal' should only be added to the invented name in those cases when a clear risk of medication errors has been identified.
EMA advises companies on steps to take to avoid nitrosamines in human medicines [EMA] EMA will continue working closely with national authorities, EDQM and international partners to ensure that companies are taking appropriate measures to prevent nitrosamine impurities from being present in their products.
	5.3.4 TRAITEMENTS - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
J&J’s Darzalex makes FDA history with another myeloma nod in new patients [Fierce Pharma] The drug could have some company soon. The FDA accepted a filing for Sanofi’s anti-CD38 candidate isatuximab in relapsed/refractory myeloma after the French drugmaker's combo with Celgene's Pomalyst and dexamethasone posted a 40% reduction in the risk of disease progression.
Janssen Announces U.S. FDA Approval of DARZALEX® (daratumumab) Combination Regimen for Newly Diagnosed, Transplant-Eligible Patients with Multiple Myeloma [Janssen] Approval represents first and only FDA-approved biologic indicated for newly diagnosed patients who are eligible for a stem cell transplant.
FDA approves daratumumab for transplant-eligible multiple myeloma [FDA] Approval is based on data from CASSIOPEIA, including progression-free survival (PFS), stringent complete response (sCR) at 100 days post-ASCT, and CR rate at day 100 post-ASCT.
	5.6 ESMO
New Studies Question Whether Novel Anti-Cancer Drugs Are Worth Their Extra Cost [ESMO] Dr Barbara Kiesewetter, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and a member of the ESMO-MCBS Working Group, pointed out that the new research underlines the growing importance of the ESMO-MCBS in clinical practice in Europe to assist doctors and patients in discussions and decisions on treatment.
	5.6.14 ESMO - OVAIRE
GSK, AstraZeneca rivalry takes center stage at cancer conference [Reuters] Both companies have already flagged that their respective drug candidates, part of a class known as PARP inhibitors, did well in staving off a return of ovarian cancer in women that had responded to initial standard treatment.GSK and Astra, which are also competing in respiratory drugs, have held back full trial details for the ESMO event.
	6.1 OBSERVATION
Male infertility linked to increased prostate cancer risk [NHS Choices] This type of study cannot tell us whether sperm abnormality or other problems in male fertility are a direct cause of prostate cancer. And the study has a major limitation: it did not include information about men who had fertility treatment but did not become fathers.
	6.10 POLITIQUES
Brexit may have 'gravest of consequences' for health: UK lawmaker [Reuters] The health ministry “still doesn’t know whether all stockpiles are in place”, she said, has no idea whether social care providers such as nursing homes for the sick and elderly are ready, and is not sure whether freight capacity needed for medical imports will be in place on time.
	6.11 PATIENTS
‘My body feels like it is dying from the drugs that are meant to save me’: life as a cancer patient [The Guardian] When I was diagnosed with highly aggressive breast cancer, I was confronted with a cure so poisonous that, if I survived, I could lose my eyesight, speech and memory.
What Do You Do When Your Patient Starts to Cry? [Medscape] What I Learned From Breaking Bad News to Cancer Patients Around the World.
	6.6 PUBLICATIONS
How researchers can improve the quality of systematic reviews [Nature] A guideline to boost transparency is being updated.
	6.7 DMP, BIG DATA & APPLIS
Statement on new steps to advance digital health policies that encourage innovation and enable efficient and modern regulatory oversight [FDA] Our aim is to provide more clarity on our risk-based approach to digital health products, and, in particular, to provide more detail on those technologies and applications that would no longer be classified as a medical device subject to FDA regulation according to the Cures Act.
FDA clarifies how it will regulate digital health and artificial intelligence [STAT] The guidelines, contained in a pair of documents released Thursday morning, clarify the agency’s intent to focus its oversight powers on AI decision-support products that are meant to guide treatment of serious or critical conditions, but whose rationale cannot be independently evaluated by doctors.
	6.9 CONTROVERSES
Seven years later, NIH center that aims to speed drugs to market faces challenges [Science] Some accused NIH of wanting to become a drug company or solve the pharmaceutical industry's challenges—a notion one former CEO likened to believing in fairies. It fell to Austin to prove that the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) wasn't going to compete with industry, but could give it powerful new tools. After 7 years, the jury is still out.