Noted

The NIH's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee unanimously approved the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to tweak T cells in patients, improving the ability of T cells to attack tumor cells. This application would represent the first human use of CRISPR/Cas9, and the committee's green light is the first step in allowing a proposed clinical trial to proceed.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released its recommendations on colorectal cancer screening, noting that the net benefit of screening between ages 50 and 75 is substantial (JAMA 2016;315:2564–75). The net benefit of screening patients over age 76 is small, and doing so should be an individual decision.

Vice President Joe Biden announced the launch of the Genomic Data Commons (GDC), which will allow cancer researchers to more easily share genomic and clinical data. With $70 million from the NCI, the program aims to match patients to the best treatments based on genetic abnormalities in their tumors.

Foundation Medicine announced plans to release approximately 18,000 genomic profiles of adult cancers to the GDC. This is the largest dataset of its kind given to the NCI, more than doubling the size of the GDC and making the portal an even more comprehensive resource for precision medicine research.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and IBM announced a partnership to expand access to precision medicine for 10,000 veterans with cancer. IBM's Watson technology will rapidly scan deidentified DNA sequences from patients and produce a list of potential therapies—ranked on the quality of evidence—that physicians could prescribe.

San Ramon, CA–based Galena Biopharma halted a phase III study of NeuVax after an interim analysis concluded that the HER2-targeting breast cancer vaccine was no better at preventing recurrence than a placebo.

Cambridge, MA's Infinity Pharmaceuticals said it would cut 100 jobs after a phase II trial of the PI3Kδ and PI3Kγ inhibitor duvelisib in non-Hodgkin lymphoma yielded disappointing results.

For more news on cancer research, visit Cancer Discovery online at http://cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals.org/content/early/by/section.