Onco Actu du 24 janvier 2020

	1. BIOLOGIE
Why cells need acidic lysosomes [The Rockefeller University] Because lysosomes are known to be essential for cancer-cell proliferation, the discovery suggests a potentially new way to fight tumors: starving them for iron.
Preventing metastasis by stopping cancer cells from making fat [UC Louvain] Olivier Feron, a UCLouvain researcher, studies how cancer spreads through the body via metastasis His major discovery was that cancer cells multiply by using lipids as food. His latest discovery, published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, is that lipid storage promotes cancer invasiveness.
	1.4 BIOLOGIE - TECHNOS, MODÈLES
‘We need a people’s cryo-EM.’ Scientists hope to bring revolutionary microscope to the masses [Science] Cheap cryo–electron microscope could accelerate discovery of protein structures.
	2.6 ETIOLOGIE - ENVIRONNEMENT
Bayer Shares up 2.3% on report about possible glyphosate settlement [Reuters] A Bayer spokesman said the mediation process under court-assigned mediator Ken Feinberg was continuing diligently and in good faith. “There is also no certainty or timetable for a comprehensive resolution,” he added.
	3.1 PRÉVENTION - TABAC
Surgeon General's Report on Smoking Cessation Highlights Evidence-Based Ways to Help People Quit [ASCO] Cancer care providers should do everything in their power to prevent people from becoming addicted to nicotine--regardless of how it is delivered. Our 2019 National Cancer Opinion Survey found that roughly one in five young adults uses e-cigarettes daily or recreationally and nearly one in four believes the products are harmless and not addictive, despite evidence to the contrary.
E-cigarettes don't help smokers quit, U.S. Surgeon General says [UPI] U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams has declared that e-cigarette use doesn't help smokers quit, based on mixed scientific evidence on the claim, but that vaping may get non-smokers to start.
Surgeon General Releases First Report Focused on Smoking Cessation in 30 Years [HHS] Outlines the latest science to help people quit smoking cigarettes.
	4.12 BIOPSIES LIQUIDES
Viral Cancer Early Detection Efforts Making Progress Toward the Clinic [Genome Web] Genomic techniques that could allow early detection and screening for virus-associated cancers are making strides, according to project leaders who described their efforts last week at a conference on liquid biopsy technologies sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research.
	4.15 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - IMAGERIE
Imaging and New Technologies in Immunotherapy [Cancer Research Catalyst] Advances in the imaging arena, such as the real-time, noninvasive visualization of specific cells, or the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to pathology, have garnered recent attention in the immunotherapy space.
	4.3 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - INDUSTRIELS
23andMe laying off 14% of employees amid slump in DNA spit kit sales [STAT] Sales of consumer DNA tests have fallen industry-wide, not just for 23andMe.
	5.12.4 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - ESSAIS
Roche provides an update on Phase III study of Tecentriq in people with muscle-invasive urothelial cancer [Roche] “Reducing the risk that muscle-invasive urothelial cancer will recur after surgery is very difficult, and we are disappointed that we were not able to significantly prolong disease-free survival.”
Roche's Tecentriq fails trial in form of urothelial cancer [Reuters] Tecentriq is already approved in the United States, European Union and other countries for treating various forms of non-small cell and small cell lung cancer, some kinds of metastatic urothelial cancer, and in PD-L1-positive metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
	5.12.5.1 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - BIOTECH
Merck KGaA spinout iOnctura raises cash for cancer trials [Fierce Biotech] In mice, iOnctura linked IOA-244 to decreases in those cell types, increases in natural killer cells and the inhibition of tumors when administered in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor.
Merck KGaA spinout gets first funding to bring dual-acting cancer molecules into the clinic [EndPoints] The lead asset is a PI3Kδ-inhibitor for solid tumors. iOnctura is not the first to explore these kind of inhibitors for immuno-oncology. TG Therapeutics and Incyte both have programs underway, although those are for hematology.
	5.2 PHARMA
Eli Lilly’s $1.6B cancer drug failed to spark even the slightest positive gain for patients in its 1st PhIII [EndPoints] The bottom line: The drug failed all 3 endpoints — badly.
	5.3 TRAITEMENTS - FDA, EMA,...
The FDA has devalued the gold standard on R&D. And that threatens everyone in drug development [EndPoints] At a time when the industry is under assault from every angle, particularly on pricing, it’s time for everyone to support a more flexible FDA approach that doesn’t simply turn gold into tin. Nobody wants a new tin standard in R&D.
	5.3.4 TRAITEMENTS - AMM (FDA, EMA,...)
Roche cracks China's ADC market open as Kadcyla scores its first breast cancer OK in the country [EndPoints] That’s the same indication Roche scored in Kadcyla’s expanded label at the FDA recently. Since the therapy was first introduced in the US, it has steadily racked up blockbuster sales around the world, surpassing $1 billion in the first nine months of 2019.
	5.3.4.1 TRAITEMENTS - AMM (FDA, EMA,...) - EPIZYME
Epizyme’s Soft Tissue Cancer Drug Granted Speedy FDA Approval [Xconomy] The FDA decision for the drug is an accelerated approval—a faster regulatory review using less evidence than is typically required. That means Epizyme will need to conduct additional studies to confirm the drug’s benefit to patients.
Epizyme drug granted approval by FDA for rare cancer [Biopharma Dive] Only 15% of the 62 patients enrolled in the epithelioid sarcoma portion of Epizyme's Phase 2 study experienced tumor responses deep enough to qualify by standard metrics for evaluating drug activity. The cancers of 30 patients, meanwhile, were judged to be stable following treatment.
FDA approves first treatment option specifically for patients with epithelioid sarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer [FDA] Tazverik’s approval was based on the results of a clinical trial enrolling 62 patients with metastatic or locally advanced epithelioid sarcoma.
Epizyme Announces U.S. FDA Accelerated Approval of TAZVERIK™ (tazemetostat) for the Treatment of Patients with Epithelioid Sarcoma [Epizyme] First and Only EZH2 Inhibitor Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Epizyme prices rare tissue cancer treatment at $15,500 a month [Reuters] Epithelioid sarcoma (ES) affects nearly 800 people in the United States and in most cases begins in the soft tissue under the skin of a finger, hand, forearm, lower leg or foot.
	5.4 TRAITEMENTS - ECONOMIE
NICE declines to recommend Astellas' Xospata in rlapsed/refractory FLT3+ acute myeloid leukaemia [Pharmafile] The drug is priced at £14,188 for a pack of 28 doses. Astellas offered to provide the drug at a confidential discount, but even with this taken into account, NICE could not consider it a cost-effective use of NHS resources.