Onco Actu du 20 décembre 2019

Pour information, Onco Actu interrompt sa parution quotidienne.

Elle reprendra à partir du 2 janvier 2020.

	1. BIOLOGIE
Researchers discover a new mechanism in childhood kidney cancer [The Rockefeller University] Having discovered this previously unknown mechanism in cancer, Wan and her colleagues are now asking if it might be possible to revert cancer cells back to normal, for instance with drugs that disrupt ENL’s ability to bind to the genome or to form clumps.
	2.11 ETIOLOGIE - ALIMENTATION
Strongest link yet between nitrites and cancer - but ‘not all processed meat has same risk’ [Queen's University Belfast] Researchers from Queen’s have questioned the World Health Organisation’s blanket classification of processed meat as carcinogenic after finding significant evidence gaps between processed meat treated with nitrites and nitrite-free processed meat.
	2.13 ETIOLOGIE - NDMA
Industry faces new safety worries from old drugs and wider testing in 2020 [Fierce Pharma] One reason this problem was only discovered within the last couple of years, the FDA says, is that newer, more sophisticated testing methods can now detect even trace amounts of impurities. These previously unknown risks can be found and mitigated, but it can’t all be done overnight, it says.
	2.6 ETIOLOGIE - ENVIRONNEMENT
DOJ charges Roundup plaintiffs' lawyer in $200 million alleged extortion scheme [Reuters] According to the Justice Department, Litzenburg told the company’s outside counsel in several emails, phone calls and meetings in October and November that he would launch a mass torts onslaught against the chemical company unless he and two co-counsel were paid $200 million as “consultants.”
	3.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC
ASCO Applauds Congress for Raising Minimum Age to Purchase Tobacco and Boosting Cancer Research Funding [ASCO] A longtime advocate on this issue, ASCO believes this important change will delay and reduce the use of tobacco and help prevent tobacco-related cancers.
Congress Approves Raising Age to 21 for E-Cigarette and Tobacco Sales [NY Times] President Trump is expected to sign it into law as part of the overall spending package. Some advocates warn that more action is needed to reduce teenage vaping of e-cigarettes.
	3.1.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC - E-CIGS
Canada health minister proposes bans on vaping product advertising [Reuters] While e-cigarettes are marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes and a means to help smokers quit, health officials are concerned they are getting a new generation hooked on nicotine.
China's e-cigarette industry cuts 10% of staff, slows production as regulation tightens [Reuters] Ao Weinuo, secretary of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee, late on Thursday said media scrutiny of vaping in the United States, the largest e-cigarette market, has also caused demand to wane just as China banned online e-cigarette sales.
	4. DÉPISTAGE, DIAGNOSTIC ET PRONOSTIC
Combining Lymphoma Molecular Profiles, Microenvironment Signatures May Improve Prognosis [Genome Web] BostonGene and Weill Cornell researchers wanted to explore how the tumor environment and tumor mutations work together to promote malignancy. By drawing on more than 3,000 DLBCL samples from 13 datasets, including a new cohort of 127 patients seen at Weill Cornell, the researchers identified transcriptomic signatures of cells and pathways in the lymphoma microenvironment.
	4.2 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - GÉNOME
Diagnostic test helps find bloodstream infections before they appear [St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital] A test called microbial cell-free DNA identified potentially lethal bloodstream infections in children with relapsed leukemia days before symptoms appeared, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The work appears as an advance online publication today in JAMA Oncology.
Blood-Based Sequencing Test Identifies Pediatric Cancer Infections Before Symptoms [Genome Web] The researchers enrolled 47 patients who were a median 10 years old with relapsed or refractory leukemia into their study. Twelve patients experienced 19 bloodstream infections, and the researchers had pre-symptomatic blood samples for 16 of those episodes.
New classification system for tumors can guide diagnosis and treatment options for cancer [EurekAlert!] Researchers at the Centre Nacional d'Anàlisi Genòmica, part of the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, analysed the mutations found in 2,583 patients with 37 different types of cancer.
	4.3 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - INDUSTRIELS
FTC Slams Illumina-PacBio Merger, but Illumina Not Quitting Yet [Omics! Omics] Perhaps more important is to identify clinical opportunities that could be generated rapidly and get them into proper trials. Given the high capital cost of an instrument, that's probably going to mean things like oncology or rare diseases (as noted before) where patients can be concentrated at relatively few academic centers. For oncology, it's probably fusion proteins; for rare diseases it's going to be repeat expansion disorders.
	5. TRAITEMENTS
Study finds less-aggressive chemotherapy after initial treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer to be more beneficial [Mayo Clinic] A maintenance strategy with a fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy, such as 5-FU or capecitabine, is preferred, though observation with no chemotherapy is an acceptable option for some patients, according to the analysis of results from 12 randomized clinical trials. The study appears in JAMA Oncology.
Antioxidant Use During Chemo Risky [SWOG] Breast cancer patients who take the dietary supplements known as antioxidants, as well as iron, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids, during chemotherapy may be at increased risk of disease recurrence and death, according to new study results appearing in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
	5.1 TRAITEMENTS - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
Scientists identify potential drug target for BRCA-mutated tumours [Institute of Cancer Research] The discovery also suggests that by blocking EXD2 in cells that already lack fully-functioning BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins – which are also involved in DNA repair – cancer cells are unable to survive.
	5.12.1 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - PARTENARIATS
Turnstone teams up with Takeda in $900M deal to work on biotech's oncolytic drug [Fierce Biotech] RIVAL-01 works by encoding transgenes for Flt3 ligand, anti-CTLA-4 antibody and IL-12 cytokine. The transgenes are designed to be expressed when the vaccinia virus enters and replicates in cancer cells throughout the body.
Takeda Pays Turnstone $120M to Start Alliance on Viral Cancer Therapies [Xconomy] The backbone of RIVAL-01 is the vaccinia virus, a virus that has been used extensively in vaccines. In addition to a long safety record, the virus can also be engineered to grow exclusively in tumor cells, keeping the effects of the therapy focused on the tumors and leaving healthy cells alone.
Turnstone Biologics Announces Global Collaboration and License Agreement with Takeda to Develop Novel Viral Immunotherapies [Turnstone Biologics] Companies to generate additional novel candidates from the vaccinia virus platform through discovery collaboration; each party will have the right to independently develop select programs.
Takeda puts $120M in near-term cash on the table to complete a new oncology platform deal [EndPoints] The global pharma company picked up an alliance with Turnstone Biologics, which has been building a new viral immunotherapy platform to complement its work on oncolytics, partnered with AbbVie for the past 2 years.
	5.12.2 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - CAR-T, THÉRAPIES CELLULAIRES
Pharma's gene and cell therapy ambitions will kick into high gear in 2020—despite some major hurdles [Fierce Pharma] Gene and cell therapies require enormous up-front investing in complex manufacturing processes, as well as innovative approaches to securing insurance coverage for products that come with eye-popping price tags.
	5.12.3 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES-COMBINAISONS
Exelixis Enters into a Clinical Collaboration for Three Phase 3 Combination Trials for Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors [Exelixis] New pivotal trials will evaluate the combination of cabozantinib and atezolizumab in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, castration-resistant prostate cancer and renal cell carcinoma.
	5.2 PHARMA
Bladder cancer approval gives Seattle Genetics its second drug [Biopharma Dive] The biotech plans to put another eight drugs into clinical testing over the next two years, an ambitious plan that company CEO Clay Siegall describes as evidence of Seattle Genetics' evolution beyond Adcetris.
Seattle Genetics gets ready to launch its second ADC after scoring bladder cancer OK with partner Astellas [EndPoints] Seattle Genetics has already hired the sales force for Padcev — and they will be gearing up for lots more, including breast cancer drug tucatinib, now under priority review.
	5.2.3 PHARMA - ÉCONOMIE
Drugmakers rebranding around oncology, rare diseases could provide 2020 preview [Fierce Pharma] Will other drugmakers follow these companies' lead in 2020? That remains to be seen. But with both oncology and rare-disease drugs putting up big sales numbers in 2019, it seems like a good bet.
	5.2.6 PHARMA - BIOTECH
Jazz lines up $1B for lung cancer drug, making oncology focus clear [Biopharma Dive] Adding in lurbinectedin, Jazz's pipeline includes 30 programs ranging from preclinical to Phase 3 testing. Four are in neuroscience or sleep, while the other 26 are listed under hematology-oncology.
Jazz rolls the dice on a billion-dollar gamble on a new drug for SCLC — shooting for a 2020 launch [EndPoints] The drug triggers apoptosis by inhibiting RNA polymerase II and blocking trans-activated transcription.
	5.3 TRAITEMENTS - FDA, EMA, NICE...
FDA Drafts Guidance on Demonstrating Substantial Evidence of Effectiveness [RAPS] In addition to the “gold standard” randomized, double-blinded, controlled superiority trials, which FDA says are “regarded as the most rigorous design,” the guidance also discusses other types of designs, including placebo concurrent control, dose-comparison concurrent control, no treatment concurrent control, active treatment concurrent control and historical control designs.
	6.1 OBSERVATION
Affordable Care Act Led to Improved Treatment of Colorectal Cancer among Young Adults [ACS] Patients under 26 years had a shift to earlier stage; faster time to adjuvant chemotherapy.
Anal Cancer Incidence and Deaths Are Rising in the United States [NCI] In the absence of evidence of effective screening tests, like the Pap and HPV tests for cervical cancer, to prevent the incidence of anal cancer from continuing to rise in the future, “emphasis should be on rapidly scaling up HPV vaccination rates,” said Dr. Deshmukh.
	6.10.1 POLITIQUES (USA)
Trump administration lays out plans to import drugs from abroad [Biopharma Dive] Drug importation as policy has a long history, but was rejected in the past over concerns of supply chain security and regulatory resources. That it's been revived and put into motion by a Republication administration is notable, although the cost-saving impact of either plan announced Wednesday isn't clear.
	6.7 DMP, BIG DATA & APPLIS
Hospital execs say they are getting flooded with requests for your health data [CNBC] Hospitals, many of which are increasingly in dire financial straits, are weighing a lucrative new opportunity: selling patient health information to tech companies.
	6.7.1 IA/BIOINFORMATIQUE
Hunting for New Drugs with AI [Nature] The pharmaceutical industry is in a drug-discovery slump. How much can AI help?