Onco Actu du 25 mars 2020

	1. BIOLOGIE
Three-Dimensional Genetic Structure in Blood Cancer Important Beyond DNA Code Changes [NYU Langone] The new work builds on the discovery that DNA chains exist, not in vast tangles of chromosomes, but in organized “neighborhoods” called topographically associated domains, or TADs.
Interactions between cancer cells and fibroblasts promote metastasis [DKFZ] "That underlines how crucial the cellular communication between the detached cancer cells and the fibroblasts in their new microenvironment is for metastasis." Furthermore, the scientists prevented metastasis in the lung in an experimental setting by treating mice with an inhibitor that blocked the receptor molecule on the cancer cells.
	2. ETIOLOGIE
Study reveals an inherited origin of prostate cancer in families [VUMC] They analyzed haplotypes at a location of chromosome 8 which has been tied to the origin of prostate and numerous additional cancers. The study, published March 23 in Nature Communications, explains roughly 9% of prostate cancer heritability. One mutation increased risk as much as 22-fold.
	3.8 PRÉVENTION - ALIMENTATION
Challenges of human nutrition research [Science] Facilitating more domiciled feeding studies will lead to fundamental new discoveries about the mechanistic physiological responses to diet and will improve human nutrition research in all its forms.
	4.10 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - POUMON
Screening Reduces Lung Cancer Mortality but is Underutilized [Cancer Research Catalyst] Despite the benefits of lung cancer screening, a recent study by the CDC found that just 12.5 percent of adults who met the USPSTF criteria for lung cancer screening reported having had low-dose CT to check for the cancer in the past year.
	4.12 BIOPSIES LIQUIDES
NYUAD Researchers Develop New Tool for Performing Cancer Liquid Biopsy [NYU Abu Dhabi] The developed platform is used to capture CTCs from blood samples of prostate cancer patients, followed by AFM mechanical characterizations of CTCs, at the nanoscale, in search for new metastatic mechano-biomarkers.
Liquid Biopsy Can Guide Treatment for Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center] “This study testifies to the power of liquid biopsies to monitor tumor evolution during cancer treatment,” says Pedram Razavi. “We were surprised by how quickly these resistance mutations appeared and how much metastatic breast cancer could evolve in such short intervals.”
	4.9 DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - SEIN
Breast cancer screening costs high, benefits uncertain, for women in 40s [Yale] The study, conducted by researchers at Yale, University of Oslo, and New York University, found that over 40% of the eligible, privately insured women ages 40-49 received annual breast cancer screening in 2017 and estimated the national cost of those procedures to be $2.13 billion per year.
	5.1 TRAITEMENTS - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
Study sheds light on fatty acid’s role in “chemobrain” and multiple sclerosis [MD Anderson Cancer Center] Researchers find lipids responsible for neural function are highly active and not inert as traditionally believed.
	5.12.1 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - PARTENARIATS
CytomX pens $1.6B Astellas biobucks pact for T-cell R&D [Fierce Biotech] This will be good news for CytomX, which has had a rocky few years.
CytomX Lands $80M to Kick Off Cancer Drug R&D Pact With Astellas [Xconomy] CytomX develops antibody drugs that remain inactive until they reach cancerous tissue, an approach intended to spare healthy tissue from the toxic effects of the therapy.
CytomX Therapeutics and Astellas Announce Strategic Collaboration to Develop Probody® T-Cell Engaging Bispecific Therapies for Treatment of Cancer [Astellas] Probody® therapeutics are designed to bind selectively to tumors and minimize binding to healthy tissue, thereby reducing toxicities and potentially creating safer, more effective therapies. Probody T-cell engaging bispecifics are antibody constructs capable of directing cytotoxic T-cells to tumor microenvironments, leading to cell-mediated anti-cancer activity.
	5.12.11 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
Immunotherapy using ‘young cells’ offers promising option against cancer [WUSTL] These cells — natural killer (NK) cells — appear to be more effective the earlier they are in development, opening the door to the possibility of an immunotherapy that would not utilize cells from the patient or a matched donor. Instead, they could be developed from existing supplies of what are called human pluripotent stem cells.
	5.12.2 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - CAR-T, THÉRAPIES CELLULAIRES
How to build CAR–M: Carl June protégé and his biotech publish first evidence in Nature Biotechnology [EndPoints] Putting CARs in immortalized macrophage cell lines wasn’t difficult. But human macrophages resisted many of the viral vectors researchers use to genetically modify cells, including the lentiviruses used to attach CARs to T cells.
CAR Macrophages Go Beyond T Cells to Fight Solid Tumors [Penn Medicine] The research team showed that when the viral vector is inserted, not only do these engineered macrophages express the CAR, they also transform into highly inflammatory cells. This transformation allows macrophages to resist being co-opted by tumors.
	5.12.4 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - ESSAIS
Pembrolizumab shows promise for some advanced, hard-to-treat rare cancers [The Cancer Letter] The open-label, phase II study followed 127 patients who had advanced rare cancers: squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, carcinoma of unknown primary, adrenocortical carcinoma, and paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma. All patients had tumors that had progressed on standard therapies.
	5.2 PHARMA
AbbVie, Roche's Venclexta nails confirmatory combo trial in AML after flopping earlier study [Fierce Pharma] The Venclexta-azicitidine trial win comes within weeks of another Venclexta combo flopping a confirmatory trial in AML, where the drug received an accelerated FDA approval back in November 2018.
Leukemia drug from Roche, AbbVie extends survival, study finds [Biopharma Dive] The study should strengthen the case for use of Roche and AbbVie's drug, Venclexta, in frontline disease, where it currently has only conditional approval.
Roche announces Venclexta/Venclyxto combination improved overall survival in people with previously untreated acute myeloid leukaemia [Roche] Data will be shared with global health authorities and presented at an upcoming medical meeting.
	5.5 ASCO
Coronavirus forces ASCO, cancer research's top meeting, to move online [Biopharma Dive] The conference organizers said they will present the scientific program, which contains the latest clinical trial results, in an online format during the same timeframe as the meeting was scheduled to be held.
ASCO Statement on Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) [ASCO] Our mission is as important as ever. That is why we still intend to deliver the latest cancer science to the global community during the Annual Meeting timeframe using a virtual format that respects the contributions of the authors and the work of the Scientific Program Committee.
	6. LUTTE CONTRE LES CANCERS
Cold Caps Combat Hair Loss from Chemotherapy [Science-Based Medicine] Hair loss from chemotherapy can be prevented with cold caps, but scalp hypothermia has some downsides and may not be acceptable to all patients.
	6.1 OBSERVATION
Liver cancer incidence in older adults up 50% globally since 1990 [UPI] In an analysis published Tuesday in the journal Cancer, researchers from China report that while the number of cases of liver cancer in people 30 years old and younger has declined over the past 30 years, it has increased by more than 50 percent in older adults over the same period.
	6.15 LUTTE CONTRE LES CANCERS - COVID-19
Lilly Provides Update on Clinical Trial Activities During COVID-19 Pandemic [Lilly] The company will delay most new study starts and pause enrollment in most ongoing studies.
Caught in a Covid-19 maelstrom, Eli Lilly locks down clinical trials as multibillion-dollar R&D ops derail [EndPoints] The pandemic has severely disrupted healthcare systems around the globe, says Lilly, making it difficult or impossible to conduct studies at many research sites. And there’s no timeline for when it expects to get back on track.
	6.6 PUBLICATIONS, POLITIQUES SCIENTIFIQUES
Nature paper on cancer retracted after years of scrutiny [Retraction Watch] The paper has been cited 960 times, according to Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science, and 62 of those citing papers were designated “highly cited papers.”