Press Review (June 1, 2013) – Revue de presse (1 juin 2013)

First-in-class cancer drug approved to fight melanoma

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first cancer drug to inhibit a protein — called MEK — that acts in a pathway that fuels tumour growth. The drug, called Mekinist (trametinib), was approved on 29 May for use in advanced melanomas with specific mutations. Other MEK-targeting drugs are being studied in a wide range of tumours, including lung and thyroid cancers.

By Heidi Ledford. In Nature.com (blog)             

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2013/05/first-in-class-cancer-drug-approved-to-fight-melanoma.html

New Possibilities for Prostate Cancer Treatment Revealed

Researchers have identified a sub-group of cells that could contribute to prostate cancer recurrence, opening up new ways to treat the disease, which claims more than 3000 lives a year in Australia.

In Science Daily                                                

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130529144315.htm

Barbara Brenner, breast cancer awareness advocate, dies at 61

Barbara Brenner, who directed Breast Cancer Action, a San Francisco-based breast cancer awareness group, for 15 years, died May 10 at her home in San Francisco. She was 61. Although she “beat the breast cancer odds,” as she once said, Ms. Brenner resigned her post in 2010 because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative nerve disorder known as ALS.

By Valerie J. Nelson. In Washington Post         

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/barbara-brenner-breast-cancer-awareness-advocate-dies-at-61/2013/05/29/6ae7758e-c7d5-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html

Immunotherapy's cancer remit widens

Combination therapies hold great promise, but at what cost?

By Heidi Ledford. In Nature.com (blog)             

http://www.nature.com/news/immunotherapy-s-cancer-remit-widens-1.13079

Cancer de la prostate : le Jevtana bientôt remboursé

Marisol Touraine, la ministre de la santé, a annoncé, vendredi 31 mai, le remboursement en France du Jevtana, un traitement coûteux du groupe Sanofi contre le cancer de la prostate. Interpellée par l'Association nationale des malades du cancer de la prostate (Anamacap), Mme Touraine a indiqué sur France Info que le médicament serait pris en charge par l'assurance-maladie.

Dans Le Monde

http://www.lemonde.fr/sante/article/2013/05/31/cancer-de-la-prostate-le-jevtana-bientot-rembourse_3421747_1651302.html

La FDA donne son feu vert à 2 nouveaux traitements contre le mélanome

Deux nouvelles thérapies ciblées du mélanome métastatique inopérable ainsi qu'un test diagnostic pour identifier le bon traitement ont reçu une autorisation de mise sur le marché (AMM) de la Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Les nouveaux agents, le dabrafenib (Tafinalar®) et le trametinib (Mekinist®), ont été développés par GlaxoSmithKline. Tous deux sont des traitements oraux mais ont des mécanismes d'action légèrement différents.

Par Zosia Chustecka, Aude Lecrubier. Dans Medscape

http://www.medscape.fr/oncologie/articles/1545149/