11/20/2006 Lancashire, England Jane Lavender (www.thisislancashire.co.uk) A leading Bolton dentist is blaming a lack of access to NHS dental services for the soaring rates of mouth cancer. Chris Brooks, an NHS dentist and president of Bolton's Dental Society, believes people in the most high risk groups - those living in the most deprived communities and from ethnic minorities - are increasingly likely to develop the cancer because they cannot visit an NHS dentist. Smoking and drinking alcohol are two of the main contributing factors in developing mouth cancer. Ethnic minorities, especially those from the Asian community, who traditionally have difficulty seeing an NHS dentist, are also at very high risk because they chew Paan, a leaf snack used as a breath freshener, which can also cause oral cancer. Mr Brooks said: "Access to dental services is extremely important, but the groups that are most likely to be affected, such as those in deprived areas and those in ethnic minorities, are the ones who can't get an NHS dentist. "Mouth cancer is very treatable in the early stages, but not when it's advanced and could well have spread. If more people had access to an NHS dentist then the rates would reduce." Cases of mouth cancer have doubled in Bolton over the past 10 years. The number of people being diagnosed with the disease now matches that of those told they have skin cancer. In 1996, just eight people were told they had mouth cancer, but that figure reached 15 in [...]

11/20/2006 Las Tunas, Cuba Orfilio Pelaez Periodico (www.periodico26.cu) Results from recent clinical trials made with the humanized monoclonal antibody HR3, obtained by specialists from the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM), show promise in the possibility of using this antibody in the treatment of head and neck tumors. Dr. Agustin Lage, director of the CIM, broke the good news at a press conference during the opening session of an Immunotherapy Workshop taking place simultaneously with the Biotechnology Havana 2006 convention. Dr. Lage said that test results received in trials held in Cuba and other countries such as India, China and Germany, showed a significant reduction in the malignant lesion of certain brain tumors (almost all of them non-treatable by surgery ) and of pharyngeal carcinomas. This humanized monoclonal antibody obtained the Gold Medal awarded by the World Organization of Intellectual Property, and is the first ever registered in Cuba for the treatment of advanced stages of cancer in the head and neck. The antibody inhibits cancer cells from multiplying by blocking the receptor of the EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor) a protein associated with the proliferation of cancer cells, metastasis and the invasion of healthy tissues. The antibody is administered together with other traditional therapeutic procedures.

11/16/2006 Havana, Cuba staff Prensa Latina (www.plenglish.com) In the coming years Cuba could present a new group of therapeutic vaccines against different types of cancer, foresaw the Director of the Cuban Center of Molecular Immunology (CIM) Agustin Lage. According to the scientist, the monoclonal antibody against cancer HR3 is presently among the products in advanced development by that entity. Participants in the 2006 International Immunotherapy Event taking place in the Cuban capital exchanged experiences with the results of the clinical tests of HR3 in China and India, where it has helped to treat head and neck tumors and pharynx carcinoma. Similarly the institution works on clinical tests of the antibody T1, a provisional name for the treatment of self-immune diseases, and of another against breast cancer. In addition, the CIM has another five similar products under pre-clinical tests. Therapeutic vaccines against cancer have been relatively unpopular in world clinical practice, but Lage highlighted that Cuba counts on a group of them in different test phases on humans.

11/16/2006 Chevy Chase, MD press release ScienceDaily.com Common tooth whitening products, which have been used by millions of people, are found to be safe and do not increase the risk of oral cancer when used as directed. This exhaustive review of the literature, including numerous unpublished clinical studies involving over 4,000 human subjects, appeared in an article by Dr. Ian Monroe entitled, " Use of Hydrogen Peroxide-Based Tooth Whitening Products and it Relationship to Oral Cancer," published in Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry. Clinical and laboratory data on tooth whitening products show no evidence for the development of oral cancer or of other effects that could be associated with increased oral cancer risk. Exposures to hydrogen peroxide, generally the effective ingredient in tooth whiteners, are too low and of too short of a duration (30–60 minutes) to cause any oral tissue changes that could enhance risks for oral cancer development. Concentrations of hydrogen peroxide rapidly decline to near undetectable levels usually within 15 to 60 minutes. Given the likely use of tooth whitening products by smokers, the review also sought to examine any possibility of increased oral cancer development due to combined exposure (i.e., hydrogen peroxide and carcinogenic agents that are present in cigarette smoke). A possible combined-effect, as seen in the increased likelihood of lung cancer development in smokers also exposed to asbestos, was found to be groundless with regards to bleaching and smoking and further illustrates the relative safety of tooth whitening products.

11/16/2006 London, UK staff The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk) Binge drinking is fuelling a rise in rates of mouth cancer, a leading expert warned today. Professor Saman Warnakulasuriya blamed excessive boozing for an increase in cases of the deadly disease. Mouth cancer kills one person every five hours in the UK, and the number of new cases is increasing each year. Prof Warnakulasuriya is Professor of Oral Medicine and Experimental Oral Pathology at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Dental Institute in London. He spoke out at at the launch of Mouth Cancer Awareness Week, a campaign to help victims catch the disease in its early stages. Early detection greatly increases chances of survival. Prof Warnakulasuriya said that rising cases of the illness were down to “recent increases in alcohol consumption, taken together with alarming levels of binge drinking by young people”. Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said: “Early detection of mouth cancer increases survival chances from just one in two to around nine out of 10, so increased awareness is vitally important. “Ulcers that won’t heal, lumps or red or white patches in the mouth can be common early symptoms of mouth cancer, so it is very important that people check their mouths on a regular basis, with a visit to a dentist or doctor following should they notice any changes.” Heavy drinking and smoking increase the risk of mouth cancer by up to 30 times. Chewing tobacco - or other substances like paan, areca nut [...]

11/16/2006 Philadelphia, PA Ed Susman DocGuide.com Treatment of patients with head and neck cancer -- whether with conventional radiation or with intensity-modulated radiation therapy -- leave a majority of patients with severe oral mucositis, researchers reported here at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) 48th annual meeting. There appears to be no significant difference in the proportion of patients who require hospitalization, opioid analgesics or gastronomy tubes among patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy or conventional radiology, said Linda Elting, DrPH, professor of epidemiology, University of Texas School of Public health, Houston, Texas. Dr. Elting and colleagues undertook 2 studies; a retrospective record review of 160 consecutive, newly diagnosed patients with cancers of the oral cavity and oropharynx who were clinically scored for oral mucositis. Mucositis was scored on a scale of 0 to 4 --with 0 representing no oral mucositis and 4 representing "alimentation not possible." The second study was performed prospectively at 6 centers among 75 newly diagnosed patients with cancers of the oral cavity and oropharynx who were assessed for severity of oral mucositis 5 times over 6 weeks. In the retrospective study, 69% of 29 patients who received intensity-modulated radiation therapy and chemotherapy and 84% of 50 patients who received with intensity-modulated radiotherapy and chemotherapy experienced grade 3 or grade 4 mucositis. Mucositis occurred in 70% of 48 patients given intensity-modulated radiation therapy without chemotherapy and in 76% of 34 patients who received conventional radiation without chemotherapy. In her poster presentation on November [...]

11/16/2006 Baltimore, MD D.M. Yousem et al. American Journal of Neuroradiology 27:2024-2036, November-December 2006 Summary: Head and neck surgeons often rely on imaging to determine if a neoplasm is resectable. Many of the critical issues are outlined in the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manual, wherein T4a and T4b head and neck cancers are defined as resectable and unresectable, respectively. Even within the T4a advanced resectable classification, there are critical determinants that define whether the surgical option is such that major morbidity and mortality could be expected. This review article examines the imaging literature to determine the accuracy and diagnostic criteria of different modalities for evaluating these critical T4a and T4b factors, which include the following: 1) arterial encasement, 2) prevertebral fascia involvement, 3) mediastinal infiltration, 4) tracheal and esophageal extension, 5) laryngeal cartilage penetration, 6) pre-epiglottic fat involvement, 7) dural spread, 8) bone (mandible/maxilla and skull base) infiltration, 9) perineural spread, 10) orbital involvement, and 11) brachial plexus invasion. For the most part, the studies find MR imaging with higher sensitivity but lower specificity than CT. An ever-increasing role for PET/CT is suggested. Imaging is of great value in the determination of resectability issues listed previously for head and neck cancers, with the possible exception of prevertebral fascia involvement. Authors: D.M. Yousem(a), K. Gad(a) and R.P. Tufano(b) Authors' affiliations: (a) Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Division of Neuroradiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institution, Baltimore, MD (b) Department of Otolaryngology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institution, Baltimore, MD

11/16/2006 London, UK C C R Ragin et al. British Journal of Cancer (2006) 95, 1432-1438. Two distinct etiologies of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have been proposed, DNA damage owing to tobacco and alcohol exposure and human papillomavirus (HPV) oncogene-mediated transformation. Common genetic alterations in HNSCC include TP53 mutations, 11q13 amplification (amp) and CDKN2A/p16 mutations or promoter methlyation. However, in HPV+ HNSCC it is frequent to observe wild-type TP53 and expression of p16. The relationship of this unusual pattern with 11q13 amp has not been tested. In a retrospective study on 125 HNSCC patients, only 17% (five out of 30) of HPV+ vs 44% (39 out of 89) of HPV - tumours expressed 11q13 amp (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=0.2, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.1-0.6). A subpopulation of tumours (n=69) were classified according to the three molecular markers, TP53, p16 and 11q13 amp. In addition to wild-type TP53, and p16 expression, HPV+ tumours were more likely not to be amplified at 11q13 (OR=6.5, 95% CI=1.8-23.9). As HPV+ HNSCC lack the genetic alterations which are common in other tumours, we hypothesise that HPV infection may represent an early event in the HNSCC carcinogenic process, thus suggesting a distinct molecular pathway. Authors: C C R Ragin1,2,3, E Taioli2,3, J L Weissfeld2,3, J S White1,2,3, K M Rossie4, F Modugno2,3 and S M Gollin1,3 Authors' affiliations: 1Department of Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA 2Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate [...]

11/16/2006 Newtown, CT William A Collins The Newtown Bee (www.newtownbee.com) Who cares how, The doctors fret; I just need, My cigarette. So who do you suppose will slaughter more of their fellow mortals in this bright-eyed new century? Can the Janjaweed sustain long enough to claim the record? Perhaps the Taliban? Muktada al-Sadr? Al Qaida? Will such ephemeral evildoers be able to top their more enduring rival, the Pentagon? And whose numbers can you trust anyway? No matter. All these killing machines are pikers compared to the tobacco industry. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), we're now on track to suffer one billion smoking deaths by 2100. That would be roughly 10 times the toll in the more benign 20th Century. This would require a hefty increase over the 1.4 million tobacco deaths a year currently reported, or the mere 11 million new cancer cases diagnosed annually. Maybe the WHO is exaggerating. Still, Asia is coming on strong. But exaggeration or not, the industry is giving the death record its best shot. The government's remarkably independent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have detected that producers have gradually been slipping higher levels of nicotine into their product. This is making it ever harder for existing addicts, however laudable their intentions, to lay their habit aside. That's bad news for the reported 60 percent of smokers who want to quit, and the 40 percent each year who actually give it a try. More nicotine, stronger addiction. The companies have also [...]

11/14/2006 San Francisco, CA staff Life Science News (www.biocompare.com) Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are the most common sexually transmitted infections in the United States, and certain "high risk" types have been shown to cause cervical cancer. Despite recent advances in the detection and prevention of HPV, the link between the virus and cervical cancer is not well known to the public. In June 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first vaccine to prevent infection of two high risk types of HPV, and two types that cause genital warts. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended it for females 9 to 26 years of age. Two studies presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Boston assess the public's understanding of HPV and whether discussion of the vaccine by the media and public has influenced the decision to vaccinate among women at risk. What Do U.S. Women Know About Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Cervical Cancer? Many women with HPV show no symptoms of the virus, and infections often clear without need for treatment. Because of this, many women do not have the opportunity to speak with their physicians about HPV and therefore may not learn that some HPV infections are persistent and can develop into cervical cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) created the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) to monitor health communications about cancer. In 2005, one high-priority research aim was to assess, for the first time, the [...]