ÉTIOLOGIE - ENVIRONNEMENT
Bayer bets on science in bid to prevent future Roundup lawsuits: legal experts [Reuters] The company will pay $1.25 billion to support the panel’s research, an amount that does not include any payouts to settle future lawsuits.
Roundup Maker to Pay $10 Billion to Settle Cancer Suits [NY Times]
Bayer faced tens of thousands of claims linking the weedkiller to cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Some of the money is set aside for future cases.
DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO.
PICOS Score May Help in Identification of Patients with Brain Metastasis at High Risk for VTEs [ESMO] Thrombogenicity of primary tumour, immobilisation, chemotherapy, obesity and steroid use are independently associated with venous thromboembolic events.
DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - SEIN
Digital breast cancer detection technology does not improve outcomes [Medical XPress] A new study in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds that breast cancer screening using digital mammography technology is not associated with improved health outcomes when compared to older film detection technology.
DÉP., DIAG. & PRONO. - BIOPSIES LIQUIDES
Signature of virus exposure may help detect liver cancer [NIH] The team used a blood test called VirScan to identify antibodies to more than 1,000 viral strains in people at high risk of HCC. The immune system makes such antibodies when it’s been exposed to a virus. Results were published on June 9, 2020, in Cell.
TRAITEMENTS - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
Mystery about the cancer drug nelarabine solved after decades [Goethe University] “In studies of various ALL cell lines and leukaemia cells from ALL patients, we have been able to demonstrate that the enzyme SAMHD1 splits the phosphate groups off so that the medicine loses its effect.” Because B-ALL cells contain more SAMHD1 than T-ALL cells, nelarabine is less effective with B-ALL.
TRAITEMENTS - ESSAIS
Study shows better option for treatment of inoperable anal cancer [VUMC] The results from an international trial, published by the Journal of Clinical Oncology,suggest that carboplatin-paclitaxel become the standard of care for anal cancer, a rare disease that accounts for less than 3% of all gastrointestinal malignancies. The InterAAct trial compared carboplatin-paclitaxel with cisplatin plus 5-flourouracil (5FU).
IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - BIOTECH
Simcha debuts with $25M to advance custom-built IL-18 for cancer [Fierce Biotech] Its lead program is a custom-built IL-18 that surmounts hurdles faced by the native protein. Other companies, like GlaxoSmithKline, had tried to develop IL-18 before, but ran into an unexpected problem.
IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - AMM
FDA approves pembrolizumab for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma [FDA] Efficacy was investigated in KEYNOTE-629 (NCT03284424), a multicenter, multi-cohort, non-randomized, open-label trial. The trial excluded patients who had previously received therapy with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-CTLA-4 antibody and those with autoimmune disease or a medical condition that required immunosuppression.
FDA Approves Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) for the Treatment of Patients with Recurrent or Metastatic Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma (cSCC) that is Not Curable by Surgery or Radiation [Merck]
This approval is based on data from the Phase 2 KEYNOTE-629 trial, in which KEYTRUDA demonstrated meaningful efficacy and durability of response, with an objective response rate (ORR) of 34% (95% CI, 25-44), including a complete response rate of 4% and a partial response rate of 31%.
Merck treads on Sanofi, Regeneron's turf with Keytruda's latest skin cancer OK [Fierce Pharma]
At the time of the trial check-in, the median duration of response hadn’t been reached, and some patients were still seeing benefit from Keytruda past the 13-month mark.
IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
Immunotherapy for breast cancer [University of Cincinnati] In this study, researchers found that targeting a protein called FIP200 could “overwrite” the nonresponsive nature of breast cancers to certain immunotherapies, called immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Blocking a ‘jamming signal’ can unleash immune system to fight tumors [Yale]
Yale researchers have discovered a “jamming signal” that blocks a powerful immune system stimulant called interleukin-18 (IL-18) from reaching tumors, including in cancers that are resistant to conventional immunotherapy treatments, they report June 24 in the journal Nature.
PHARMA
FDA lifts partial hold on cancer drug after Innate resolves manufacturing issue [EndPoints] The hold, which was issued in January, came after the French biotech stopped treating new patients following discussions with regulators in Europe. Its manufacturing subcontractor, Rentschler Fill Solutions, had abruptly filed for bankruptcy and withdrawn a certificate of conformity on the lacutamab batches they produced.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifts partial clinical hold on lacutamab TELLOMAK trial in advanced T-cell lymphomas [Innate]
The FDA decision is based on a quality assessment of a new Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-certified batch that has been successfully manufactured for the lacutamab clinical development program, including the TELLOMAK trial.
FDA, EMA, ...
FDA debuts website for patient-reported cancer outcomes [Science Board] An initiative of the FDA's Oncology Center of Excellence, Project Patient Voice will serve as a source of publicly available information describing patient-reported symptoms from cancer trials for commercially available treatments.
AstraZeneca first to join FDA's push for patient-reported symptoms in cancer trials [Fierce Pharma]
AstraZeneca is the first, and so far only, drugmaker in the program, and it's starting with expanded patient details from its late-stage AURA3 trial that compared Tagrisso to platinum-based chemotherapy.
AACR
AACR Virtual Annual Meeting II: Clinical Trials Plenary Session Highlights Immunotherapeutic Combinations and a Liquid Biopsy-based Strategy for Predicting Progression-free Survival [AACR] The second day of the AACR Virtual Annual Meeting II began with a clinical trials plenary session.
ASCO
Study Clarifies Timing of Immunotherapy for Advanced Bladder Cancer [NCI] Patients who received avelumab as maintenance therapy had “the longest overall survival ever documented” in a clinical trial for patients with metastatic bladder cancer, said Elizabeth Plimack, M.D., head of bladder cancer research at Fox Chase Cancer Center, who was not involved with the study, speaking at the ASCO meeting.
LUTTE CONTRE LES CANCERS - COVID19
Should You Delay Cancer Treatment Because of COVID-19? Study Says Most Treatments Don’t Worsen Coronavirus Infection [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center] A review of 423 patients treated at MSK finds that most people with cancer don’t fare any worse if they get COVID-19 than other people who are hospitalized for that infection.
