February 2009 – Oral Cancer News

Chinese e-cigs gain ground amid safety concerns

Source: apnews.myway.com Author: Audra Ang With its slim white body and glowing amber tip, it can easily pass as a regular cigarette. It even emits what look like curlicues of white smoke. The Ruyan V8, which produces a nicotine-infused mist absorbed directly into the lungs, is just one of a rapidly growing array of electronic cigarettes attracting attention in China, the U.S. and elsewhere - and the scrutiny of world health officials. Marketed as a healthier alternative to smoking and a potential way to kick the habit, the smokeless smokes have been distributed in swag bags at the British film awards and hawked at an international trade show. Because no burning is involved, makers say there's no hazardous cocktail of cancer-causing chemicals and gases like those produced by a regular cigarette. There's no secondhand smoke, so they can be used in places where cigarettes are banned, the makers say. Health authorities are questioning those claims. The World Health Organization issued a statement in September warning there was no evidence to back up contentions that e-cigarettes are a safe substitute for smoking or a way to help smokers quit. It also said companies should stop marketing them that way, especially since the product may undermine smoking prevention efforts because they look like the real thing and may lure nonsmokers, including children. "There is not sufficient evidence that (they) are safe products for human consumption," Timothy O'Leary, a communications officer at the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative in Geneva, said this week. The [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-28T06:32:42-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

VELscope System Called the World’s Leading Oral Cancer Screening System

Source: LED Dental Inc Writer: John Pohl WHITE ROCK, British Columbia—February 27, 2009—LED Dental Inc. claimed today that its VELscope system is used for more oral cancer examinations than any other adjunctive technology in the world. Impressive Milestones Passed According to Dr. Ralph Green, president and CEO of LED Dental's parent, LED Medical Diagnostics, "Since our mid-2006 launch, we have sold over 4,000 VELscope systems worldwide. Based on an independent survey of VELscope users, we estimate that these devices have been used to conduct over 4 million VELscope exams to date." Dr. Green added, "What's more, we estimate that over 3 million additional VELscope exams will be conducted in 2009 alone. Based on sales information reported by our leading competitor, it is clear that their product is currently being used for a much lower number of exams." Powerful Supporting Research The tissue fluorescence visualization technology platform on which the VELscope system is based is the culmination of over $50 million in research funded by the National Institutes of Health and other respected institutions and conducted by such leading organizations as the British Columbia Cancer Agency and the University of Texas's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Translating this highly sophisticated, breakthrough technology for use in an efficacious device to examine the oral mucosa was the brainchild of LED Dental and the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Launched in 2006 as the first tissue fluorescence device made commercially available to the dental community, the VELscope system revolutionized the dental practitioner's ability to visualize the oral mucosal [...]

Webmaster2009-02-27T20:19:09-07:00February, 2009|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Current status and perspectives of brachytherapy for head and neck cancer

Source: Int J Clin Oncol, February 1, 2009; 14(1): 2-6 Author: H Shibuya Brachytherapy delivers a high radiation dose to a limited volume while sparing surrounding normal tissues. In head and neck cancer, severe soft-tissue damage and bone damage to the mandible has decreased markedly since the introduction of computer dosimetry and the use of spacers during treatment. For the curative treatment of head and neck cancer, the selection of brachytherapy sources from among the several linear and small permanent implant sources available, not only according to the tumor site but also according to the patient's physical and mental condition is important. Following the successful treatment of early head and neck cancer by brachytherapy, two major problems and one minor problem may confront the physician. The major problems are neck node metastasis and a second primary cancer of the respiratory tract or upper digestive tract, and the minor problem is radiation-induced cancer. Author's affilation: Department of Radiology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8519, Japan

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-27T09:56:47-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Drink a day increases cancer risk

Source: BBC News A glass of wine each evening is enough to increase your risk of developing cancer, women are being warned. Consuming just one drink a day causes an extra 7,000 cancer cases - mostly breast cancer - in UK women each year, Cancer Research UK scientists say. The risk goes up the more you drink, whether spirits, wine or beer, the data on over a million women suggests. Overall, alcohol is to blame for about 13% of breast, liver, rectum, mouth and throat cancers, the researchers say. They estimate that about 5,000 cases of breast cancer in the UK - 11% of the 45,000 cases diagnosed each year - can be attributed to women's consumption of alcohol. The study looked specifically at women who consumed low to moderate levels of alcohol - defined as three drinks a day or fewer. Over the seven years of the study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a quarter of the 1.3 million women reported drinking no alcohol. Of those who did drink, virtually all consumed fewer than 21 drinks per week, and an average of 10g of alcohol per day, which is equivalent to just over one unit of alcohol found in half a pint of lager, a 125ml glass of wine or a single measure of spirits. Nearly 70,000 of the middle-aged women developed cancer and a pattern emerged with alcohol consumption. One too many? Consuming one drink a day increased the risk of all types of [...]

Webmaster2009-02-26T15:40:18-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Calcium tied to lower cancer risk in older people

Source: www.gmanews.tv Author: staff A study in nearly half a million older men and women bolsters evidence that diets rich in calcium may help protect against some cancers. The benefits were mostly associated with foods high in calcium, rather than calcium tablets. Previous studies have produced conflicting results. The new research involved food questionnaires from participants and a follow-up check of records for cancer cases during the subsequent seven years. This research method is less rigorous than some previous but smaller studies. But because of its huge size — 492,810 people and more than 50,000 cancers — the new study presents powerful evidence favoring the idea that calcium may somehow keep cells from becoming cancerous, said University of North Carolina nutrition expert John Anderson, who was not involved in the study. The study was run jointly by the National Institutes of Health and AARP. The results appear in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine. National Cancer Institute researcher Yikyung Park, the study's lead author, called the results strong but said more studies are needed to confirm the findings. Duke University nutrition researcher Denise Snyder said the results support the idea that food rather than supplements is the best source for nutrients. Participants were AARP members aged 50 to 71 who began the study in the mid-1990s. A total of 36,965 men and 16,605 women were later diagnosed with cancer. There were more than 10 different kinds of cancer, the most common being prostate, breast, lung and colorectal. Compared with people who [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-24T23:19:23-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Department of Defense tackles tough task in separating fact from fiction about smokeless tobacco

Source: www.eielson.af.mil Author: staff The hard truth about smokeless tobacco is hardly classified intelligence, but sorting out reality versus fantasy takes some maneuvering amid the mountain of information--and misinformation--that abounds. In observance of the Great American Spit Out, Feb. 19, and Through With Chew Week, Feb. 15 through 21, the U.S. Department of Defense is targeting smokeless tobacco as part of its Quit Tobacco--Make Everyone Proud tobacco cessation campaign. At the campaign's official Web site, http://www.youcanquit2.org, there's accurate and easy-to-digest information that sets the record straight on smokeless--spit, chewing, snuff and "dip"-- tobacco. Debunking the myths Myth: Smokeless tobacco products are a safe alternative to tobacco smoking. Fact: Here is the bottom line--smokeless is not harmless. The list of serious illnesses connected to any form of smokeless tobacco is almost too long to print, but includes mouth cancer, cancer of the pancreas, tooth loss, and bone loss around the roots of teeth. Myth: Smokeless tobacco contains less nicotine than cigarettes. Fact: The amount of nicotine absorbed from a can of spit tobacco is equal to the amount delivered by three to four packs of cigarettes. Nicotine is absorbed more slowly from smokeless tobacco than from cigarettes, but more nicotine per dose is absorbed from smokeless tobacco than from cigarettes. Also, the nicotine stays in the bloodstream longer. Myth: Nicotine and all the other poisons disappear when you spit out the tobacco. Fact: When chewers place snuff or smokeless tobacco in their mouth, cheek, or lip, they give nicotine a free [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-23T07:54:12-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Genetic signatures of HPV-related and unrelated oropharyngeal carcinoma and their prognostic implications

Source: Clinical Cancer Research, 10.1158/1078-0432 Authors: Jens P. K et al. Purpose: Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-containing oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) have a better prognosis than patients with HPV-negative OSCC. This may be attributed to different genetic pathways promoting cancer. Experimental Design: We used comparative genomic hybridization to identify critical genetic changes in 60 selected OSCC, 28 of which were associated with HPV-16 as determined by HPV-specific PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis and positive p16INK4A immunostaining. The results were correlated with HPV status and clinical data from patients. Results: Two thirds of OSCC harbored gain at 3q26.3-qter irrespective of HPV status. In HPV-negative tumors this alteration was associated with advanced tumor stage (P = 0.013). In comparison with HPV-related OSCC, the HPV-negative tumors harbored: (a) a higher number of chromosomal alterations and amplifications (P = 0.03 and 0.039, respectively); (b) significantly more losses at 3p, 5q, 9p, 15q, and 18q, and gains/amplifications at 11q13 (P = 0.002, 0.03; <0.001, 0.02, 0.004, and 0.001, respectively); and (c) less often 16q losses and Xp gains (P = 0.02 and 0.03). Survival analysis revealed a significantly better disease-free survival for HPV-related OSCC (P = 0.02), whereas chromosome amplification was an unfavorable prognostic indicator for disease-free and overall survival (P = 0.01 and 0.05, respectively). Interestingly, 16q loss, predominantly identified in HPV-related OSCC, was a strong indicator of favorable outcome (overall survival, P = 0.008; disease-free survival, P = 0.01) and none of these patients had a tumor recurrence. Conclusions: Genetic [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-22T06:09:58-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Deadly in pink: new report warns big tobacco has stepped up targeting of women and girls

Source: www.rwjf.org Author: staff The tobacco industry has unleashed its most aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at women and girls in over a decade, according to a report issued today by a coalition of public health organizations. The report warns that these new marketing campaigns are putting the health of women and girls at risk and urges Congress to regulate tobacco marketing by passing legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products. The report, “Deadly in Pink: Big Tobacco Steps Up Its Targeting of Women and Girls,” was issued by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The report and images of the tobacco marketing campaigns can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org/deadlyinpink In the last two years, the nation’s two largest tobacco companies—Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds—have launched new marketing campaigns that depict cigarette smoking as feminine and fashionable, rather than the harmful and deadly addiction it really is: In October 2008, Philip Morris USA announced a makeover of its Virginia Slims brand into “purse packs”—small, rectangular cigarette packs that contain “superslim” cigarettes. Available in mauve and teal and half the size of regular cigarette packs, the sleek “purse packs” resemble packages of cosmetics and fit easily in small purses. They come in “Superslims Lights” and “Superslims Ultra Lights” versions, continuing the tobacco industry’s history of associating smoking with weight control and of appealing to women’s health concerns with misleading claims [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-21T10:42:24-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Tempest in a bottle of mouthwash

Source: blog.macleans.ca Author: staff It’s a ritual observed by thousands of Canadians every day: brush, floss, gargle and spit. Rinsing with mouthwash doesn’t just provide a scrubbed, minty feeling; it’s good for our health, we’re told, curbing plaque and gingivitis (not to mention bad breath). Some brands even carry the Canadian Dental Association’s official seal. But this so-called healthy habit could be doing more harm than good. Australian researchers recently concluded that mouthwashes containing alcohol may contribute to oral cancer. Tobacco use is the biggest risk factor for oral cancer, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Combined with excessive drinking, it’s even more dangerous—a heavy smoker and drinker is up to 30 times more likely to develop it. Even so, “there’s a small group of patients who don’t seem to have any risk factors,” says Michael John McCullough, an associate professor at the Melbourne Dental School and one of the experts behind the report. “I noticed some were saying they’d used alcohol-containing mouthwashes over a long period of time.” In the article, published in the Australian Dental Journal in December, McCullough and co-author Camile Farah conclude there is now “sufficient evidence” to suggest these mouthwashes are a contributing factor. Not only does alcohol seem to make the mouth’s cells more vulnerable to cancer-causing agents, McCullough says “its first breakdown product is acetaldehyde, a known human carcinogen.” While alcohol is mostly metabolized in the liver, they argue the breakdown process actually begins in the oral cavity. “Excessive mouthwash use, over a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-02-19T16:27:30-07:00February, 2009|Oral Cancer News|