Oral Cancer News

Source: Livestrong.org

My job requires me to be online all day keeping an ear to the ground on major issues related to cancer. I knew the Prop 29 fight in California was going to be fought against Big Tobacco, but I didn’t realize the scale of their funding machine.

Why are LIVESTRONG, American Cancer Society, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and many other health organizations for this proposition? Because it keeps kids from smoking, funds much needed cancer research and prevention programs. So it won’t surprise you that Big Tobacco is the driving force against the cancer research prop. Although it is not surprising, the amount of money they are pumping into California is unreal. To date, Big Tobacco has funneled 40 million dollars into their anti cancer research initiative compared to Yes on 29 Coalition’s 8 million raised.

What I find most telling is when it comes to where these funds are from. Check out this visualization from MapLight.org – a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that reveals money’s influence on politics.

This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Source: DrBicuspid.com

May 9, 2012 — Actor Michael Douglas’ recent revelation that he has stage IV oropharyngeal cancer has highlighted the growing incidence of oral cancer, and experts say dentists can help stem the alarming increase of the disease by checking for it during routine examinations.

The actor’s cancer includes a walnut-sized tumor at the base of his tongue, and he will require radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. Douglas says his doctors told him he has an 80% survival rate if it hasn’t spread to his lymph nodes.

While tobacco was the prime cause of oral cancer in the past, recent studies have attributed the steady increase of the disease to the human papillomavirus (HPV). There are approximately 130 versions of HPV but only nine cause cancers, and the HPV16 version causes almost half of the oral cancers in the U.S., said Brian Hill, executive director of the Oral Cancer Foundation.

“Tobacco is no longer the only bad guy,” he told DrBicuspid.com. “HPV16 is increasing in incidence as the causative etiology, and if it continues on this trend line, it will replace tobacco as the primary cause of oral cancers.”

Dentists can play a key role in catching the disease in its early stages if they check for it during examinations, Hill pointed out. “But many dentists think it’s such a rare disease that they don’t bother to screen for it,” he said. “Most Americans have never even heard of oral cancer, but it’s not as rare or uncommon as people would like to think it is. This is why an opportunistic screening by the dental community is so important.”

Hill, a nonsmoker, got the same diagnosis as Douglas in 1998 and underwent radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. Since Hill’s oral cancer had metastasized to both sides of his neck by the time it was discovered, surgeons removed the right side of his neck to remove the lymph nodes there. He has been cancer-free for 10 years and said there are a lot of stage IV survivors out there.

“I’m on this side of the grass and that’s all that’s important,” he said, adding with a laugh, “I’m not pretty, but I’m still here.”

Changing demographics

In the last decade, the demographics of oral cancer have changed dramatically, according to Hill and other experts, pointing to the sexual revolution and accompanying increase in the prevalence of oral sex. Today almost half of those diagnosed with the disease are younger than 50 years old — with some as young as 20, according to Hill — and they are usually nonsmokers. According to the American Cancer Society, oral cancer occurs almost as frequently as leukemia and claims more lives than melanoma or cervical cancer. The incidence in oral cancer patients younger than age 40 has increased nearly fivefold, with many patients with no known risk factors, according to the ADA.

“Social and sexual behaviors have changed,” Hill said. “Oral sex is more common. The virus is spreading, especially among young people because sexual contact is more common, and this virus is not only ubiquitous in our society, but the mechanism of transfer is very simple.”

Until 2000, scientists were unsure if HPV caused oral cancer, Hill said, but definitive research in 2000 revealed it as a distinct etiology for the disease, and more recent studies have supported this finding.

The disease is dangerous because often there are no symptoms in the early stages that a person might notice. “It’s a very insidious disease,” Hill explained. He recalled that it was not until a lymph node became swollen that Hill realized something was wrong. Even then, it was not painful, he said.

But an alert dentist will notice subtle signs and symptoms in a simple three to five minute visual and tactile exam, Hill noted. “There will be things he’ll pick up on, and that’s why we’re urging that the dental community to become more involved in oral cancer screening,” he said.

Approximately 36,000 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed each year in the U.S., according to the ADA, and some 25% of those people will die of the disease. Only 57% of all diagnosed oral cancer patients will be alive five years after their diagnosis, Hill said. Approximately 100 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with oral cancer every day, he added, and one person will die every hour from it.

And when celebrities get oral cancer, it helps bring about much needed public awareness about the disease, said Hill, noting that, in addition to Michael Douglas, such luminaries as Sigmund Freud and Ulysses S. Grant have been among its victims.

“When somebody famous gets the disease, it finally gets the world’s attention,” he noted.

This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Source: TobaccoFreeKids.org

WASHINGTON, DC – The large federal tobacco tax increase implemented on April 1, 2009, reduced the number of youth smokers by at least 220,000 and the number of youth smokeless tobacco users by at least 135,000 in the first two months alone, according to a new study released today by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The researchers emphasized that the study measured only the immediate impact of the tax increase through May 2009, and the number of youth prevented from smoking and using smokeless tobacco would be much larger over time.

The study “showed that a large national tax increase can influence youth tobacco use prevalence within a very short time period,” the researchers wrote. “Adolescents not only respond to tax policy changes, but the speed of their response is fast. The prevalence of smoking and use of smokeless tobacco… dropped immediately following the tax increase in this study, and statistically significant and meaningful changes could be measured and detected within 30 days of the tax increase.”

The study was published online by the National Bureau of Economic Research and can be found at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w18026.

The new study comes as the tobacco industry, led by Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds, is spending nearly $40 million to oppose a June 5 ballot initiative in California (Proposition 29) to increase that state’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack. The initiative would reduce smoking and fund research on cancer and other tobacco-related diseases, as well as tobacco prevention programs.

“This study shows exactly why the tobacco industry is spending so much money to oppose California’s Prop 29: They know higher tobacco taxes are very effective at reducing smoking, especially among kids,” said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “Because the truth is against them, the tobacco companies are spending huge sums on ads to deceive and confuse voters. Californians should ignore their lies and vote yes on Prop 29.”

Study Findings

A 2009 law approved by Congress, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, increased the federal tax rate on cigarettes by 61.66 cents per pack (from 39 cents to $1.0066 per pack) and on moist snuff, the most common form of smokeless tobacco, by 92.5 cents per pound (from 58.5 cents to $1.51 per pound). Taxes were also increased on other forms of smokeless tobacco.

The study investigated the changes in youth smoking and smokeless tobacco use rates following the April 2009 federal tobacco tax increases, using data from the Monitoring the Future survey, an annual national survey of 8th, 10th and 12th grade students. Because the survey is conducted from February through May each year, it coincided with the April 1 tobacco tax increase and provided an effective means to measure the immediate impact.

The study found that the tobacco tax increase had a substantial and immediate impact.

The percentage of students who reported smoking in the past 30 days dropped between 9.7 percent and 13.3 percent immediately following the tax increase, while the percentage who reported using smokeless tobacco dropped between 16 percent and 24 percent (because the survey asked about behavior in the past 30 days, the study used three different models, with different cutoff dates, to fully assess the impact of the tax increase).

Because of the tax increase, there were between 220,000 and 287,000 fewer current smokers and between 135,000 and 203,000 fewer smokeless tobacco users among middle and high school students in May 2009, the study estimated.

The study controlled for other factors that influence youth tobacco use, including individual, family and school characteristics as well as state tobacco control measures, including state cigarette taxes, smoke-free air polices and tobacco control funding.

The study also found that, even as youth tobacco use declined, federal tobacco tax revenues increased by 147 percent in the 12 months following the increase – from $7.1 billion in the 12 months before to $17.5 billion in the 12 months after.

The study “demonstrated that a well-designed, across-the-board tobacco tax policy can delivery both economic and health benefits, and has implications for policymakers at all levels when considering effective tobacco control policies to reduce tobacco use among youth,” the researchers wrote.

Support for the study was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Cancer Institute.

This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Source: Medscape Today

May 11, 2012 (Barcelona, Spain) — Radiotherapy alone might be just as effective as more toxic regimens in the treatment of light smokers or nonsmokers with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive advanced oropharyngeal carcinomas, according to research presented here at ESTRO 31: European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology 2012 Annual Conference.

“Moderately accelerated radiotherapy as a single modality may be a safe and presumably morbidity-sparing treatment strategy for these patients,” said Pernille Lassen, MD, a resident in medical and radiation oncology at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.

“What we are suggesting — knowing that it’s not randomized and knowing that it’s not a very large series — is that perhaps we don’t need to treat these patients with chemotherapy and all the other things that we do,” she told Medscape Medical News. We’re “not recommending one treatment over another; this is a contribution to the ongoing debate. But [we're] showing that we really cure a lot of patients with radiotherapy alone in this select group of nonsmokers or light smokers and HPV positivity.”

The researchers examined 181 patients from the Danish Head and Neck Cancer Group (DAHANCA) database who had advanced oropharyngeal cancer that had metastasized to the lymph nodes or beyond (stage III and IV).

Cumulative smoking history was categorized as greater than or less than 10 pack-years (1 pack-year is equivalent to 20 cigarettes per day for 1 year), and pretreatment tumor immunohistochemistry was assessed on the basis of HPV-associated p16 expression (positive or negative).

“p16 expression is a striking feature of these tumors, and this immunohistochemical marker is now considered a reliable marker of infection with HPV in these tumors,” said Dr. Lassen.

Radiotherapy was delivered in a moderately accelerated fractionated dose (66 to 68 Gy in 33 to 34 fractions at 6 fractions per week) with concomitant nimorazole.

The researchers found that 57% of the tumors were p16-positive, in line with current observations of an “epidemic rise” in such tumors, she said.

Although “classical tobacco-induced carcinomas of the larynx are actually declining,” there has been a “striking” 12-fold rise in the overall incidence or oropharyngeal cancers in the past 30 years — “and much is pointing to the fact that HPV is the predominant cause of this epidemic rise,” she said.

The researchers found that p16 positivity correlated with significantly better locoregional tumor control than p16 negativity (81% vs 48%), with 5-year disease-specific survival (90% vs 56%), and with overall survival (77% vs 38%).

Combining these data with smoking history, light (less than 10 pack-years) or nonsmokers who were also HPV-positive “had significant benefit in terms of all 3 outcomes” on univariate analysis, but this disappeared in the multivariate calculation.

“In this small study, this means that the effect of being p16-positive is so strong that when you put that in the multivariate analysis with smoking, smoking is no longer of significance,” Dr. Lassen said in the interview. “But we know from other studies that smoking is of independent prognostic significance.”

Patients with HPV-negative tumors fared poorly, regardless of their smoking status, she said.

These findings add to the growing body of evidence that HPV-associated p16 status “has a significant influence on outcome after radiotherapy in advanced oropharyngeal carcinomas,” she said.

Additionally, “higher rates of tumor control and survival are achievable in patients with HPV-positive tumors and a smoking history of less that 10 pack-years — even when we treat these patients without chemotherapy.”

“These tumors respond extremely well to therapy,” she explained. “When you have a survival probability of 95% at 5 years, it’s really, really, hard to determine which treatment will be most optimal. I think we will have a spectrum of equally efficient treatment strategies and it will end up that the institution a patient is in and the expertise there will determine the treatment they get.”

Asked to comment, Vincenzo Valentini, MD, president of ESTRO and a radiation oncologist at Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” in Rome, Italy, said the findings should be interpreted with caution.

“At this moment, we still do not have definitive data telling us that for these very good responders, we can deescalate treatment,” he told Medscape Medical News. “We can say they have a much better prognosis, but we still cannot say in a definitive way that we can reduce treatment. We have to test it; there is a nice group of studies going on to test this hypothesis.”

He emphasized that although HPV status is of proven prognostic significance, it should not overshadow the importance of smoking status. “The evidence [from this study] is a little in conflict with other larger studies. [HPV status and smoking] are really relevant, and we still need final validation of whether they are really independent or whether one is more significant than the other. But in our clinical evaluation, we see that smoking has a very negative impact on prognosis and also tolerability of treatments.”

Prevention is a key message that should be spread about smoking, “when we see that 10 pack-years could change the possibility of cure,” he said. “We have a lot of people who start to smoke very early, at 15 or 16, and when they are 25, they have already put themselves on the dark side of the moon. The damage of 1 cigarette is permanent — it is not something you can dilute just because it happened 25 years ago.”

This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Source: European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO)

Barcelona, Spain: Researchers believe they may have found a way to avoid damaging salivary glands during radiotherapy treatment for head and neck cancer – a discovery that could improve the quality of life of 500,000 patients a year worldwide with the disease.

Presenting their findings to the 31st conference of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO31) [1], the researchers said that they had discovered that the stem cells essential for regenerating the parotid gland (the largest pair of salivary glands) were located mainly in its major ducts, and that these could easily be avoided during radiotherapy or given a minimal radiation dose. “This would significantly reduce complications arising from radiotherapy for head and neck cancer,” said Dr Peter van Luijk, a research associate at the University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.

Around 40% of patients treated for head and neck cancer suffer from the distressing side-effects of dry mouth syndrome – a condition that can occur when the parotid gland stops working properly after radiation damage. This causes problems with eating, sleeping, speech, tooth loss and oral hygiene, leading to diminished quality of life, social isolation and difficulty in continuing work. Attempts to treat dry mouth syndrome and its consequences can cost hundreds or even thousands of Euros per patient per year and are mostly insufficient.

Dr van Luijk said: “Parotid gland dysfunction after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer was, and still is, a major clinical problem. During radiotherapy, attempts to minimise the risk of this complication have been aimed at reducing the average dose to the salivary gland, on the assumption that it would not make a difference where in the gland the radiation dose was reduced. However, this does not seem logical according to the anatomy of the salivary gland and, in previous work, we discovered that reductions in the radiotherapy dose to some parts of the gland allowed the parotid gland to regenerate, whereas a dose to other parts did not. Therefore, we decided to investigate the reason for these regional differences. We hypothesised that our observations could be explained by a non-uniform distribution of stem cells necessary for the long-term maintenance of organ function and affected by irradiation.”

Dr. Van Luijk and his colleagues investigated the location of stem cells and the effects of radiotherapy to particular regions of the gland first in mouse and rat models, and then in parotid and salivary gland tissue taken from patients (after informed consent) undergoing a neck dissection for head and neck cancer.

They found that in mouse, rat and human tissue, the stem cells were predominately located in the major ducts of the parotid gland. “We have found in previous work that these stem cells are capable of regenerating a parotid gland when they have been transplanted after irradiation,” said Dr van Luijk.

Dissection of the rat parotid gland and culturing of the different parts of the gland in Petri dishes showed that a greater concentration of stem cells capable of regenerating the gland were located in the centre, where the largest ducts are located. The researchers then directed high-precision irradiation at this centre part in living rats and found that it resulted in excessive reduction of saliva production, in contrast to the minimal effects observed after irradiating other parts of the gland.

Dr van Luijk explained: “The position of the stem cells in rats corresponds to the cranio-ventral extension of the gland in humans, where the excretory duct leaves the gland on the ventral, or outward-facing side. So even though the glands have different shapes in rats and humans, the stem cells are in the exact same anatomical structure.”

The researchers then tested their hypothesis by creating a mathematical model based on the treatment of 36 patients, which enabled them to estimate the expected parotid gland function depending on the dose to the stem cells.

“Excitingly, dose to the cranio-ventral extension of the gland containing the major ducts was most predictive of damage to saliva production. In addition, we found that it was possible to reduce the dose by approximately 50% to this part of the gland, without increasing the average dose to the whole gland or the dose to other critical structures in the head and neck region, and without compromising adequate target coverage,” said Dr Van Luijk. “Using the mathematical model, we estimated that with such dose reduction none of the patients would have developed parotid gland dysfunction. This is, however, a hypothesis that needs to be tested prospectively in a randomised clinical trial by comparing parotid gland function in a group of patients treated with current standard to a group in which, additionally, the dose to the stem cells is minimised using our proposed stem cell sparing technique. This technique should only be implemented in radiotherapy clinics when such a trial proves there is a benefit as predicted by our research.”

He continued: “Our findings can be seen as a proof-of-principle that elucidation of biological mechanisms in complications may lead to the identification of critical sub-structures of organs, possibly leading to new opportunities to reduce harm to normal tissue. Though we only show this for the parotid gland, such approach may apply to other organs as well.”

The researchers say that it is easy to spare the parotid gland during radiotherapy. “The stem cell region is on the side of the gland that is normally furthest away from the target area containing the tumour cells. Since only this area needs a high radiation dose, this distance makes avoiding the stem cell area easier than avoiding other parts of the gland,” said Dr van Luijk.

“Based on our results we hypothesise that sparing the parotid gland stem cell region, costing around €100 in extra man-hours, may effectively prevent salivary gland dysfunction. This will allow patients to more readily lead their normal lives without having to rely upon medical care and welfare. Maybe even more importantly, cancer patients will remain productive members of society, realising a cost reduction far beyond the cost of medication. Finally, it will improve quality of life of 500,000 patients treated with radiotherapy for head and neck cancer worldwide every year,” he concluded.

Professor Bradly G. Wouters (PhD), a radiobiologist at the Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada, and chair of the conference radiobiology track, commented: “This is an exciting clinical study that has identified a critical region of the salivary gland that contains stem cells that can regenerate the gland and preserve function in patients with head and neck cancer. Using advanced radiation techniques the investigators show it is possible to spare this region and thus deliver higher therapeutic doses without causing more toxicity to patients.”

Source: Los Angeles Times

One in every six cancer deaths worldwide is caused by preventable infections, a total of 1.5 million deaths yearly that could be halted by widespread vaccination programs, researchers reported Wednesday. Since 1990, that number has grown by about half a million, suggesting that vaccination programs are losing ground in the battle rather than gaining it.  The vast majority of the cases are caused by three viruses and a bacterium, which are the leading causes of gastric, liver and cervical cancers. Cervical cancers account for about half of the infection-related cancers in women, while liver and gastric cancers account for about 80% of those in men.

The causes of many cancers are largely unknown, but genetics and poor luck play big roles. The World Health Organization estimated in 2004 that nine lifestyle and environmental factors — smoking being a particularly large one — account for as many as 35% of the 12.7 million cancers that occur each year, about twice the proportion now linked to infections.

Cervical cancers are caused primarily by the human papilloma virus (HPV), as are anal and penile tumors. Stomach cancers are caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. The hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses cause liver cancer.  All such infections are readily preventable by vaccination. Other less common agents include the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes nasopharynx tumors and Hodgkin’s lymphoma; human herpes virus type 8, which causes Kaposi’s sarcoma, usually in conjunction with HIV; and the parasite Schistosoma haematobium, which causes bladder cancer.

A team headed by Dr. Catherine de Martel and Dr. Martyn Plummer of the International Agency for Cancer Research in Lyon, France, used data compiled by the agency’s GLOBOCAN program to estimate the cancer incidence in various regions of the world, then used actual data of various cancers as well as estimates to predict the total attributable to infectious agents. They reported in the journal Lancet that the worldwide average of cancers caused by infectious agents was 16.5%, with about three times more (22.9%) occurring in developing countries than in developed countries (7.4%). Rates varied widely between regions, ranging from a low of 3.3% in Australia and New Zealand to a high of 32.7% in sub-Saharan Africa. About 4% of cancers were caused by infectious agents in North America and 7% in Europe.

In an editorial accompanying the report, Dr. Goodarz Danaei of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston noted that vaccines for HPV and hepatitis B are available at a “relatively low cost” and “increasing coverage [with them] should be a priority for health systems in high-burden countries.”

This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Source: LA Times

States that require vaccination for pertussis, meningitis and tetanus for admission to middle school have a higher vaccination rate than states that do not, but the rate is not nearly as high as one might expect from such a requirement, researchers reported Monday. States that required only that educational materials be sent home for those vaccines and the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine showed no improvement in vaccination rates.

Vaccines for tetanus and pertussis are typically given during childhood, but the effects can diminish over time and a booster shot is recommended in early adolescence. The meningitis and HPV vaccines typically are given in adolescence. Concern has been spreading about low vaccination rates because of recent outbreaks of pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, in California and Washington.  Some parents refuse to have their children vaccinated because of groundless fears about vaccine side effects — particularly the now-refuted link to autism — but others simply find that it is easier to express “philosophical opposition” to the vaccines rather than take their children for the shots. But these unvaccinated children serve as a natural reservoir for the diseases, enhancing their spread, particularly to those who are too old or immune-impaired to receive the vaccines themselves.

Thirty-two states required middle school vaccination with either the tetanus/diptheria (Td) vaccine or the tetanus/diptheria/acellular pertussis (TdaP) vaccine when the survey was performed in 2008-09. Fourteen of those specifically required the TdaP vaccine. None required that educational materials about those vaccines be sent home. Three states required the meningitis vaccine and 10 required education. Only Virginia and the District of Columbia required HPV vaccination, which is controversial because the virus is transmitted primarily by sexual contact. It is also expensive for the three-dose series required.

Dr. Christina Dorrell and her colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used data from the 2008-09 National Immunization Survey-Teen, in which telephone numbers are randomly called to provide a cross-section of households with teenagers. Parents were questioned about vaccinations, then asked for permission to contact vaccine providers.

The team reported in the journal Pediatrics that 71% of teens in states with vaccination requirements had indeed been immunized against meningitis, compared to 53% in states with no requirements. For Td and TdaP, the corresponding numbers were 80% and 70%. Educational requirements did not raise immunization rates for any of the vaccines. Since the data was collected for the study, 21 states have enacted new or updated vaccination requirements for TdaP and six have made new requirements for the meningitis vaccine.

This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology

Source: Rolling Stone Magaznie

Adam Yauch, one-third of the pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, has died at the age of 47, Rolling Stone has learned. Yauch, also known as MCA, had been in treatment for cancer since 2009. The rapper was diagnosed in 2009 after discovering a tumor in his salivary gland.

“It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer,” reads an official statement from the Beastie Boys. “He was 47 years old.”

Yauch sat out the Beastie Boys’ induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, and his treatments delayed the release of the group’s most recent album, Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2. The Beastie Boys had not performed live since the summer of 2009, and Yauch’s illness prevented the group from appearing in music videos for Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2.

Yauch co-founded the Beastie Boys with Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz in 1979. The band started off as a hardcore punk group, but soon began experimenting with hip-hop. The band broke huge with their first proper album, Licensed to Ill, in 1986; it was the biggest-selling rap album of the decade and the first to reach Number One on the Billboard chart. Further albums Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication cemented the Beasties as a true superstar act.

In addition to his career with the Beastie Boys, Yauch was heavily involved in the movement to free Tibet. A founder of the Milarepa Fund, Yauch was instrumental in the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park 1996, which drew 100,000 people – the largest U.S. benefit concert since 1985′s Live Aid. After 9/11, Yauch and the Beastie Boys organized New Yorkers Against Violence, a concert benefit for some of the victims least likely to receive help from elsewhere.

Yauch also directed many of the Beastie Boys’ music videos under the pseudonym Nathaniel Hornblower. In 2002, he launched the film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories. As a filmmaker, he directed the 2006 Beastie Boys concert film Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That! and the 2008 basketball  documentary Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot, and his production company released the acclaimed Banksy movie Exit Through the Gift Shop.

This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.