August 2008 – Page 2 – Oral Cancer News

Kaiser Health Disparities Report: A Weekly Look At Race, Ethnicity And Health

Source: Kaiser Network (www.kaisernetwork.org) Author: staff Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell on Tuesday discussed the efforts of two young black dentists in Chicago who are seeking to improve the oral health of black men. Mitchell notes that according to the American Dental Association, more than 50% of black men have untreated dental decay and black men are less likely than other men to have decayed teeth repaired. Black men also have the highest rate of oral cancer and the lowest survival rate from the disease of any other group, Mitchell writes. In an interview with Mitchell, Patrick Smith, a graduate of Harvard University School of Dental Medicine, said, "The reason why the statistics are so alarming is men don't go in for check-ups, even though oral cancer is more prevalent in the African-American community," adding, "By the time we as black men have oral cancer, it is advanced." Patrick Smith has partnered with Ozzie Smith, a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, to open up a dental office in the Hyde Park community of Chicago. Patrick Smith added that the "sad part" of the issue surrounding black men and oral health is that "many of them have insurance and they just don't go either because of fear or preconceived notions or complete ignorance about what goes on in a dentist's office." Patrick Smith said that when black male patients come into a dental office and "see how things work and how much better it is, they realize [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-20T11:26:34-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

NYC bus workers file suit against diesel makers

Source: Newsday (www.newsday.com) Author: staff A group of New York City bus workers claim in a lawsuit that diesel exhaust from idling buses exposed them to severe illnesses, including lung and throat cancer. The lawsuit, filed in state court on Monday, names 13 diesel engine manufacturers, including General Motors, Northrop Grumman and Orion Bus Industries. The workers, bus drivers and mechanics employed by NYC Transit, claim buses sometimes idled all night in depots. The lawsuit says the companies knew "the belching of these fumes was a dangerous byproduct." The workers are seeking unspecified damages. Several companies reached for comment declined to comment, saying they had not seen the lawsuit or would not speak on pending litigation.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-20T04:43:22-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Randomized clinical trial with two omega 3 fatty acid enhanced oral supplements in head and neck cancer ambulatory patients

Source: Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci, May 1, 2008; 12(3): 177-81 Authors: DA de Luis et al. The aim of our study was to investigate whether oral ambulatory nutrition of post surgical head and neck cancer patients with recent weight loss, using two different omega 3 fatty acids enhanced diets could improve nutritional variables as well as clinical outcome. A sample of 65 ambulatory post surgical patients with oral and laryngeal cancer and recent weight loss was enrolled. At Hospital discharge post surgical head and neck cancer patients were asked to consume two cans per day of either a specially designed omega 3 fatty acid enhanced supplement with a high ratio of omega3/omega6 (I) or a omega 3 fatty acid enhanced supplement with a low ratio of omega3/omega6 (II). Serum albumin, prealbumin and transferrin concentrations improved with both enhanced formula. Weight stabilization was reached with both formulas. Gastrointestinal tolerance (diarrhea episodes) with both formulas was good (6.45 vs 5.88%: ns). The postoperative infectious complications were similar in both groups (29 group I vs 15.7% group II: ns). No local complications were detected in surgery wound. In conclusion, at dose taken, omega 3 enhanced formulas with different omega3/omega6 ratios improved serum protein concentrations in ambulatory postoperative head and neck cancer patients with good tolerance. Authors: DA de Luis, O Izaola, R Aller, L Cuellar, MC Terroba, and T Martin Authors' affiliation: Institute of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Medicine School and Unit of Investigation Hospital Rio Hortega, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-19T07:59:42-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Quality assessment of english and spanish oral cancer websites

Source: AMIA Annu Symp Proc, January 1, 2007; 987 Author: JY Irwin, T Wali, S Fernando, and T Schleyer Authors' affiliation: University of Pittsburgh Based on the morbidity and mortality due to oral cancer, it is essential that oral cancer information available on the Internet be usable, organized and credible. We evaluated the information quality of 24 English-language and 25 Spanish-language oral cancer websites. English-language sites scored 74.7 out of 100 points on the Information Quality Tool scale, while Spanish-language sites scored 48.8. Developers of oral cancer websites should improve the design, organization and credibility of the information presented.

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-19T07:54:50-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Tumour therapy drug to be reviewed

Source: PharmacyEurope (www.pharmacyeurope.net) Author: staff The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) is to review a drug targeted at the treatment of recurrent cancer of the head and neck. Advexin is designed to restore the tumour suppressing gene p53 that is blocked in the majority of tumours. If approved, it will be the first gene therapy product approved for use in Europe. "This acceptance of the Advexin Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) by the EMEA marks an historic point in the growth of personalised medicine, and the treatment of head and neck cancer," said Max Talbott, senior vice president of worldwide commercial development at the drug's developer, Introgen Therapeutics. "This action by the EMEA underscores the rapidly increasing importance of biomarkers, in the development and regulatory approval processes for targeted therapeutics. We look forward to working with the EMEA during the Advexin review process, which we hope will lead to the first gene therapy product in Europe." The MAA follows a phase III study of Advexin in patients with recurrent, refractory squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. It successfully achieved its goal, which was survival or tumour response in patients

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-19T05:39:23-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Paltrow spearheads cancer campaign

Source: ShanghaiDaily.com Author: Marc Karimzadeh Raising money to fight cancer is very close to Gwyneth Paltrow's heart - which is why she was happy to become the sixth Oscar-winning actress to champion a major cause, writes Marc Karimzadeh. Gwyneth Paltrow is painfully familiar with cancer. Her father, Bruce, died of complications from the disease in 2002, and the actress says many of her friends have been diagnosed with cancer. Some are still fighting it. So Paltrow jumped at the chance when the Entertainment Industry Foundation approached her to become the 2008 ambassador for its annual Key to the Cure campaign in conjunction with Saks Fifth Avenue. "If there is anything I can do to help raise money, especially with a charity like this, I will," Paltrow said. "I read about the charity and how aggressively they are trying to find a cure, not only for women's cancers but also for other cancers. They support people who are coming up with innovative ideas to cure cancer." Paltrow added that the initiative will also donate money to the Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund. She is the sixth Oscar-winning actress to become the ambassador to the KTTC program. This year, Karl Lagerfeld created a special T-shirt to benefit the initiative. The 2008 effort also marks a milestone for Saks Fifth Avenue. It's the 10th anniversary of Saks' charity shopping event, which, in conjunction with its vendors and partners, has raised more than US$28 million for cancer institutions. Saks first partnered with the Council [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-17T17:10:46-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Helping Tumor Cells Not To Stick To The Wound During Surgical Removal

Source: Science Daily (www.sciencedaily.com) Author: staff Sometimes during surgery to remove a tumor, cells become detached from the bulk of the tumor. In a small number of cases, these tumor cells stick to cells at the site of the surgical wound and go on to form a secondary tumor, having an enormous negative impact on the survival and quality of life of the patient. New data, generated by Marc Basson and colleagues, at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center and Wayne State University, Detroit, using a mouse model of surgery to remove a colon cancer tumor, suggest that perioperative treatment with a drug known as colchicine might decrease the incidence of tumor formation at the site of the surgical wound. When colon cancer tumor cells are exposed to high pressure they exhibit an increased ability to stick to other cells. In the study, to mimic the conditions of surgery, the authors removed colon cancer cells from one mouse, exposed them to high pressure in vitro, and then transplanted them into a second mouse that they monitored for the development of tumors at the site of the surgical wound. The most important observation made was that if the mice from which the colon cancer cells came from were treated perioperatively with colchicine there was a dramatic decrease in the number of tumors that formed at the site of the surgical wound in the second mouse. As in vitro exposure of tumor cells from breast and head and neck cancers to [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-15T21:45:53-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Does Pretreatment Seropositivity to Human Papillomavirus Have Prognostic Significance for Head and Neck Cancers?

Source: Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention 17, 2087-2096, August 1, 2008 Authors: Elaine M. Smith et al. Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a risk factor for head and neck cancers (HNC), yet HPV-associated tumors have better prognosis than HPV-negative tumors. Methods: We evaluated whether pretreatment presence of antibodies to HPV capsids [virus-like particles (VLP)] or to HPV-16 oncoproteins E6 and E7 was a predictor of HPV-positive HNC and clinical outcomes. Sera from 156 HNC patients were tested for antibodies to HPV-16–derived antigens using ELISA. HPV-16 in tumors was evaluated by PCR and DNA sequencing. Results: HPV-16 antibodies were found in 33% with HPV-16 VLP, 21% with HPV-16 E6, and 21% with E7. HPV-16 was detected in 26% of tumors. There was a strong correlation between detection of HPV-16 tumor DNA and antibodies to HPV-16 E6 or E7 ( = 0.7) but not to HPV-16 VLP ( = 0.4). Multivariate analyses showed significantly better disease-specific survival in seropositive HPV-16 VLP [hazard ratio (HR), 0.4; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.1-0.9], HPV-16 E6 (HR, 0.1; 95% CI, 0.02-0.5), and HPV-16 E7 (HR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1-0.9) cases. Less disease recurrence occurred among those with antibodies to both E6 and E7 compared with those negative to both (P = 0.003). There was better disease-specific survival in patients who were E6 positive at baseline and remained positive at follow-up compared with individuals who were E6 negative at both time points (P = 0.03; = 0.9). Conclusions: The presence of antibodies to HPV-16 E6 and [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-15T21:40:30-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Laser Treatment Zaps Oral Cancer

Source: Jacksonville News (www.news4jax.com) Author: staff This year, more than 34,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with oral cancer -- a cancer that has a higher death rate than cervical cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, or skin cancer. Survival rates are not improving; but now, a new treatment may give doctors a way to stop oral cancers before they start. They're often detected in a routine dental or doctor's exam … red or white lesions called leukoplakia that can turn into serious, even deadly oral cancers. "I do happen to know people that have died of this kind of cancer and so we watch it very closely," said Mike Hagerman, a former smoker and a two-time oral cancer survivor. Now, Hagerman's leukoplakia is back. This time, he's part of a study testing a new photodynamic laser treatment designed to eliminate precancerous cells. "When the laser fires onto the lesion, it emits light at a very specific frequency that causes oxygen radicals that destroy the lesion, make it go away," explained Stuart Wong, M.D., a medical oncologist at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Tested on the hand or used in the mouth on actual lesions, researchers say the laser doesn’t hurt. It’s a preventive measure that doctor say could save lives. "There is some emerging data that the better we can kill off these early precancerous lesions, that that might translate later down the road many, many years to a decreasing in the development of cancers and that's [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-15T21:05:49-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|

Lifestyle risk factors for oral cancer

Source: Oral Oncol, July 30, 2008 Author: Stefano Petti The "style of life is the unique way in which individuals try to realize their fictional final goal and meet or avoid the three main tasks of life: work, community, love" (Alfred Adler, founder of the Individual Psychology). Lifestyle refers to the way individuals live their lives and how they handle problems and interpersonal relations. The lifestyle behaviours associated to oral cancer with convincing evidence are tobacco use, betel quid chewing, alcohol drinking, low fruit and vegetable consumption (the detrimental lifestyle is high fat and/or sugar intake, resulting in low fruit and/or vegetable intake). Worldwide, 25% of oral cancers are attributable to tobacco usage (smoking and/or chewing), 7-19% to alcohol drinking, 10-15% to micronutrient deficiency, more than 50% to betel quid chewing in areas of high chewing prevalence. Carcinogenicity is dose-dependent and magnified by multiple exposures. Conversely, low and single exposures do not significantly increase oral cancer risk. These behaviours have common characteristics: (i) they are widespread: one billion men, 250 million women smoke cigarettes, 600-1200 million people chew betel quid, two billion consume alcohol, unbalanced diet is common amongst developed and developing countries; (ii) they were already used by animals and human forerunners millions of years ago because they were essential to overcome conditions such as cold, hunger, famine; their use was seasonal and limited by low availability, in contrast with the pattern of consumption of the modern era, characterized by routine, heavy usage, for recreational activities and with multiple [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2008-08-15T17:22:46-07:00August, 2008|Oral Cancer News|