Onco Actu du 26 juillet 2019
Flower power as human cancer cells compete with normal cells [Nature]
Cells compete for survival during development. It emerges that mammalian cells on a path to form a tumour express specific versions of the protein Flower when they vie for survival with surrounding normal cells.
1.4 BIOLOGIE - TECHNOS
A GPS-like System for Single-Cell Analysis [NIH Director's Blog]
This technology acts as a GPS-like system for mapping the exact location of each of the thousands of individual cells undergoing genomic analysis in a tissue sample. This 3D video shows the exquisite precision of this new cellular form of GPS, which was used to generate a high-resolution map of the different cell types found in a tiny cube of mouse brain tissue.
2.5 ETIOLOGIE - GÈNES
Germline BRCA2 Mutations Linked to Pediatric Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Risk [Genome Web]
In a new analysis, St Jude's researchers have now examined germline sequencing data from 1,380 survivors of childhood lymphoma from two cohorts. As compared to controls with no history of cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors were more likely to harbor pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in BRCA2, suggesting there could be a link between the variants and non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk.
Inherited BRCA2 mutations linked to increased risk of childhood lymphoma [St. Jude Children's Research Hospital]
The researchers also observed that members of the cohort who had inherited BRCA2 mutations and were survivors of childhood non-Hodgkin lymphoma were all men. Further research is needed to understand the finding.
Want to quit smoking? Try an e-cigarette [Harvard Gazette]
The report, published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research online, provides the first longitudinal data about the effectiveness of e-cigarettes for cessation from a survey that reflects the U.S. population.
Juul Targeted Schools, Camps and Youth Programs, House Panel Claims [NY Times]
In April 2017, a Juul representative visited the Dwight School in New York City to meet with students — with no teachers present — and told them the company's e-cigarettes were "totally safe." It was one of numerous schools across the country who were offered $10,000 from the e-cigarette company for the right to talk to students in classrooms or after school.
U.S. lawmakers grill e-cigarette maker Juul over efforts targeted at schoolchildren [Reuters]
Democrats on a subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform released a cache of internal Juul emails and other documents that committee staff described as early attempts to "enter schools and convey its messaging directly to teenage children."
The HPV vaccine is on trial as anti-vaxxers mobilize against effective cancer prevention [NBC]
The safe, heavily researched HPV vaccine remains tragically under-used — and anti-vaccine movies and conferences could make it more so if we're not careful.
Five million Britons to be offered free personalised DNA reports [The Telegraph]
Health officials said a £79m Government investment, backed by £160 million from charities and businesses, would be used to support research on early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease including dementia and cancer.
Accuracy of Genotyping Chips Called into Question [The Scientist]
Chips used by some direct-to-consumer genetic testing firms display a false positive rate of upwards of 85 percent when screening for rare variants, a new study finds.
5. TRAITEMENTS
Laser-Based Device Detects and Kills Melanoma Cells in the Blood, Study Finds [NCI]
Cytophone detects cancer cells while they're inside the patient's body. The device works by delivering short laser pulses to blood vessels under the skin of the person's hand while their hand is gently fixed in a customized holder. As circulating melanoma cells pass through the laser beams, the pigment inside them gets heated up, resulting in sound waves that are detectable by an ultrasound transducer.
5.1 TRAITEMENTS - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
Cancer drug data release set to power next wave of therapeutic discovery [Sanger Institute]
Unique data comparing almost 1,000 cancer cell lines' responses to 453 licensed and experimental drugs is now freely available to the worldwide research community.
PARP inhibitors sometimes work beyond BRCA-mutations, researchers may finally know why [EndPoints]
"These findings could increase the patient population benefiting from these drugs by two, three, or four-fold. Up to 70 percent of breast cancer patients could now be good candidates."
5.12.11 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - PRÉ-CLINIQUE
Study in Mice Advances Combination Immune Therapy for Ovarian Cancer [Johns Hopkins]
The team is currently testing combined AZA and DFMO therapy in other animal models of cancer in which macrophages play a prominent role, including breast and pancreatic cancers.
5.12.2 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - CAR-T, THÉRAPIES CELLULAIRES
How Scientists Built a 'Living Drug' to Beat Cancer [Wired]
Researchers didn't know if it would work, but they had little to lose when they tried a new drug known as a CAR-T—a living cell reprogrammed to recognize and kill leukemia—on a dying 6-year-old.
5.12.4 IMMUNOTHÉRAPIES - ESSAIS
Favorable Five-Year Survival Reported For Patients With Advanced Cancer Treated With The Immunotherapy Drug Nivolumab [Johns Hopkins]
The study, which followed 270 adult men and women, reports survival rates substantially higher than what was expected from cancer therapies available in 2008 at the start of the clinical trial, including chemotherapies, kinase inhibitors, biologic therapies, antiangiogenic therapies, biologic therapies and other clinical trials.
Can BMS parlay its surprise 'win and a miss' in first-line lung cancer into a net gain? [Fierce Pharma]
Bristol-Myers will presumably unveil full data from the CheckMate-227 trial at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress this fall. Until then, a comprehensive assessment of the results is impossible.
5.17 TRAITEMENTS - RADIOTHÉRAPIE
Updated PORTEC-3 Analysis Shows Improved Survival With Chemoradiotherapy Versus Radiotherapy Alone [ESMO]
Greatest absolute benefit found in patients with stage III endometrial cancer or serous histology, or both.
GSK's cancer pipeline doubles as Barron's plan takes effect [Fierce Biotech]
The jury is still out on whether the oncology bets placed by GSK under Barron's scientific leadership will pay off, but there is now the possibility the company will become a player in the cancer field.
5.3 TRAITEMENTS - FDA, EMA, NICE...
FDA's Woodcock weighs in on role of NIH in drug development [EndPoints]
While noting that NIH research "has served biomedicine very well," Woodcock also explained how the NIH's work is heavily geared toward the early stages of development, with a relatively small amount of expertise on bringing drugs to market.
5.4 TRAITEMENTS - ECONOMIE
Innovative treatment for gynaecological cancers approved for Cancer Drugs Fund [NICE]
Olaparib, a medicine that has previously been used at a later stage in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer, has now been approved by NICE as a first-line maintenance treatment. This positive recommendation affects adults with BRCA mutation-positive, advanced high-grade epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer that has responded to chemotherapy.
Ovarian cancer drug olaparib 'can delay disease in newly diagnosed' [BBC News]
NICE said it was not yet clear if patients using it were living any longer, because those taking part in the trial had not been followed up for long enough.
ICR calls for wider gene testing in ovarian cancer after approval of olaparib earlier in treatment for women with BRCA mutations [Institute of Cancer Research]
It is thought that approximately 15 per cent of women with ovarian cancer have inherited BRCA mutations – but it is estimated that less than a third of women with ovarian cancer in the UK are being tested.
Game-changing ovarian cancer drug which extends survival by three years gets NHS green light [The Telegraph]
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) predicts up to 700 women every year in England could be given the tablets, which are taken twice a day.
AI tool identifies cancer outcomes using radiology reports [Dana-Farber Cancer Institute]
The goal of the study, said corresponding author Kenneth Kehl, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist and faculty member of the Population Sciences Department at Dana-Faber, was to determine whether artificial intelligence tools can extract the most high-value cancer outcomes from radiology reports, which are a ubiquitous but unstructured data source.
Fake news exists even in the fight against cancer [Anticancer Fund]
This fear and uncertainty makes patients vulnerable to disinformation. Quacks are well aware of this. The Anticancer Fund therefore asks for quicker and easier access to new treatments, administered and monitored by scientists and clinicians, so that patients never run out of hope.