Onco Actu du 5 septembre 2019

	1. BIOLOGIE
MD Anderson study confirms protein as potential cause of most common type of pancreatic cancer [MD Anderson Cancer Center] The team’s findings, which validated ubiquitin specific protease 21 (UPS21) as a frequently amplified gene and a potential druggable target, appear in the Sept. 5 online issue of Genes & Development.
	1.4 BIOLOGIE - TECHNOS, MODÈLES
Deep-learning AI technique helps scientists see more clearly inside the cell [STAT] “So it’s performing all of these operations at the same time — all of which are necessary to be able to do what we want to do, which is to be able to image in our microscope using far fewer pixels so that we can image faster and with less phototoxicity.”
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
Another Patient Has Died From Lung Disease After Vaping [NY Times] Health authorities in Oregon are investigating the case but would not identify the age of the patient or the brand of the device used.
Michigan becomes first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes [The Hill] The ban will apply to online and retail sales of sweet, fruity, minty and menthol-flavored vaping products, though it will not apply to tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes.
	3.2 PRÉVENTION - OBÉSITÉ
Taxing confectionery, biscuits, and cakes to control obesity [BMJ] Fiscal policies aimed at reducing consumption of sugar, salt, and saturated fat might be useful, but they fail to incentivise the consumption of healthy foods.
	5.1 TRAITEMENTS - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
FAK Protein Linked to Chemotherapy Resistance in Ovarian Cancer [UCSD] “This was not expected. We knew FAK helped tumors to spread, but we were surprised to find that FAK supports DNA repair in the most important stem-like cells of the tumor. This may be an important tool that tumors use to resist platinum chemotherapy, which is the current standard of care.”
NIH, Cincinnati Children’s scientists develop potential strategy against leukemia drug resistance [NIH] The researchers, in a range of studies, identified a cellular pathway that allows a form of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a deadly blood and bone marrow cancer, to elude the activity of a promising class of drugs. They then engineered a compound that appears to launch a two-pronged attack against the cancer.
	5.10 TRAITEMENTS - ESSAIS
Enough with the me-too drugs. New treatments should be worthy of the people who invest their lives in clinical trials [STAT] When people enroll in cancer clinical trials, they are placing their lives in our hands. Many have advanced disease and turn to a clinical trial for hope and possible healing. Yet as an industry, we are competing for these patients to test me-too drugs with significant toxicity, sometimes based on marginal preclinical data.
	5.12.2 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - CAR-T, THÉRAPIES CELLULAIRES
Nkarta nets $114M to push natural killer cell therapies into the clinic [Fierce Biotech] Nkarta believes using NK cells could clear the hurdles that have limited the success of CAR-T therapies in blood cancers. It could also cut down on nasty side effects of CAR-T such as cytokine release syndrome, which happens when the CAR-T cells activate the immune system too strongly.
The world’s first T-cell therapy for a solid tumor cancer is made in Philly [Philadelphia Inquirer] Iovance has figured out how to make TIL therapy in 22 days, compared with 42 days at Rosenberg’s NCI lab. The company has contracted to use another Navy Yard drug manufacturing facility until its own plant is up and running in 2021.
	5.12.6 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - AMM
European Commission Approves Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in Combination with Inlyta® (axitinib) as First-Line Treatment for Patients with Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) [Merck] European Approval Based on KEYNOTE-426 Trial Results Demonstrating Significant Improvement in Overall Survival with KEYTRUDA in Combination with Axitinib Compared to Sunitinib.
	5.17 TRAITEMENTS - RADIOTHÉRAPIE
New guideline clarifies role of radiation therapy in pancreatic cancer treatment [ASTRO] The ASTRO guideline covers four main areas: (1) the use of radiation in pre-surgical, post-surgical, definitive and palliative treatment settings; (2) stereotactic versus conventional radiation therapy; (3) technical aspects of radiation therapy; and (4) mitigating common side effects.
	5.2 PHARMA
Cancer drugs' share of new FDA approvals doubled this decade thanks to smarter R&D: report [Fierce Pharma] Why the surge in oncology successes? Because pharmaceutical companies have taken a new approach to drug development, focusing on pursuing novel mechanisms for treating cancer and validating them with clinical trials that are much better designed than they were in the past.
Pfizer’s chessmaster: How a top scientist helped invigorate a lumbering drug giant [STAT] One drug in the oncology pipeline was found, almost by accident, to have activity in 5% of non-small cell lung cancer patients whose tumors harbored a genetic alteration. Pfizer, uncharacteristically, quickly switched gears to address the smaller market. The drug, Xalkori, was approved by the FDA in 2011 after data showing it shrank tumors in half of patients.
	5.2.1 PHARMA - PARTENARIATS
AstraZeneca to adopt Schrödinger's molecule-modeling platform for drug discovery [Fierce Biotech] Schrödinger’s platform aims to predict how strongly a potential drug will bind and affect a target protein with the goal of optimizing its chemical properties and reducing the number of compounds that need to be synthesized before settling on a lead candidate.
	5.2.3 PHARMA - ÉCONOMIE
Versant's Repare raises $82M to trial synthetic lethality drugs [Fierce Biotech] Repare will use the money to take ATR inhibitor RP-3500 into the clinic next year. The role of ATR in protecting cells from replication-related stresses has made it a target of interest for years, leading to clinical trials of assets in development at AstraZeneca, Bayer and Merck KGaA.
Versant-backed precision oncology startup Repare Therapeutics scores $82M+ in latest round [EndPoints] Its lead drug is engineered to inhibit ataxia telangiectasia and rad3-related (ATR) kinase — which is found on a variety of cancer cell types and plays a key role in DNA repair, cell cycle progression, and survival.
	5.3 TRAITEMENTS - FDA, EMA, NICE...
Ex-FDA chiefs, non-profits take Ned Sharpless' corner as clock ticks down on Trump's pick [EndPoints] Something has to happen soon, as the interim spot can only run until November. Until then, look for more twists and turns as everyone waits to see how this latest administration drama plays out.
	5.9 AACR
Upcoming AACR Meeting Focuses on Recent Advances in Pancreatic Cancer Research [Cancer Research Catalyst] Responding to the growth of this key field, this AACR conference is transitioning from a biennial series to a yearly conference, with the 2019 program representing the first of the annual series.
	6. LUTTE CONTRE LES CANCERS
Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute launch new patient partnered research initiative [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute] The Brain Cancer Project will partner with patients through social media and advocacy groups in order to generate data that represents the spectrum of people affected by this disease. While the project is open to patients who are 18 or older, it will expand to include pediatric patients in the future.
NCI Annual Plan & Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2021 [NCI] The Annual Plan & Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2021 focuses on three emerging areas: the immune system and microbiome, artificial intelligence, and implementation science.
	6.6 PUBLICATIONS
World Health Organization Backs Open-Access Plan S [The Scientist] The agency joins a group of funders, cOAlition S, that supports making publications immediately available to the public for free.
	6.7.1 IA/BIOINFORMATIQUE
Has AI Discovered a Drug Now? Guess. [In The Pipeline] Let’s get this straight: this paper did not discover a drug. It discovered what might be a drug candidate, after a lot more work is done on it. (But no one’s going to do that work, because at the moment the world does not need another drug candidate for DDR1).
Welcoming Medicine To The Machine [Health Affairs] Topol invokes the “gift of time” that AI could offer by assuming many of the unfulfilling clerical tasks currently performed by clinicians. Here there is reason for hope, but also for doubt.